Echoes
by Aedelstan
Summary: Galinda had been doing well with her odd roommate. Everything was normal... Except Elphaba had been dead for over a month, and Galinda had no memory of how it had happened. Was she merely interacting with a vague hallucination of her roommate, or a lost spirit trying to discover the cause of her own demise? Together, Galinda and Elphaba's "ghost" deign to find out the truth.
1. Chapter 1: She's Not There

_Galinda had been doing fairly well with her odd roommate. Everything was normal... Except Elphaba had been dead for over a month, and Galinda had no memory of how it had happened. Was she merely interacting with a vague hallucination of her roommate, or a lost spirit trying to discover the cause of her own demise? Together, Galinda and Elphaba's "spirit" deign to find out the truth, however horrible it may be. Book/Musical. Shiz-Era. Ultra-AU_

**A/N: **Because inspirations come around 2 in the morning –_-

Well, I've been wanting a paranormal thing with Wicked for some unknown reason. References from the musical _Next to Normal_ are blatantly obvious here… And I think some _Ratatatouille_ too, for some ungodly coincidence. There are definitely some references to Marc Levy's amazing novel _"If Only It Were True"_.

_Wicked _is not mine (though I would ravage it if it were)

LunaSibuna: As promised. Oh well… I tried :D

* * *

**Chapter One: She's Not There**

There was pain.

Galinda didn't remember the last time her head had throbbed so sorely that it was seemingly ready to burst any moment.

All she knew was that she was curled on her bed; the familiar scent of her floral shampoo on her fluffy pillow filling her nostrils.

Her eyes were squeezed shut. She felt hot liquid brimming at the lids on both eyes. Whether they were tears of sadness or of sheer exhaustion, she couldn't remember…

"Get up, you silly twit."

Galinda frowned to her pillow at the sound of the dreary voice.

_Right… It's her again_…

It was her roommate. The ever obnoxious Miss Elphaba Thropp.

Galinda had been _tolerating _her invasion in her supposed private room for over half a year now. The thought wasn't enlivening. They have gotten _nowhere_ in terms of friendship, and Galinda preferred it that way. She assumed it was the same with Elphaba, who didn't even bother to try and be friendly with _anyone_.

"Shut it…" Galinda groaned out aloud, her voice being muffled by the pillow, in which she had sunk her face to, willing to stop the incessant pounding in her head, "Seriously, if you're going to leave, you don't have to inform me about it… Oz, what am I? Your keeper?"

"You're already late for your first class," she heard her roommate said calmly.

"And why do you care?" Galinda snapped, her brain feeling ridiculously heavy and out of place in her skull.

Within the confines of their room, they never bothered to hide how they really felt about each other. It makes life more bearable for the both of them.

Elphaba didn't respond, causing Galinda to finally dislodge her face from its comforting position to see what had sealed the green girl's lips.

Her vision swam, and it took several moments for to reclaim its focus. She found her green tormentor standing by the foot of her bed, her arms crossed, her face impassive. She was already dressed in her dark blue uniform with her glasses on her incredibly sharp nose. Overall, she looked absolutely ready to leave for class.

"Why are you still here?" Galinda grumbled, letting her fingers plow through her messy, golden curls, cursing the horrible beating her head was going through.

_What did I do last night? Did I knock myself drunk or something? Damn it, I couldn't even remember… Ow… Maybe I shouldn't think too hard right now…_

Elphaba just stood rigidly where she was, staring at her with an empty, glazed look. "Honestly, Galinda," Elphaba decided to say, "I don't know."

Her plain statement vaguely suggested something more than confusion. Galinda didn't bother comprehend the intriguing thought since she didn't want to push her mysteriously fatigued brain just yet, but she felt like she was communicating with an inanimate statue. The colorless way her roommate had been talking contrasted starkly with her usual roughness.

"Oh well…" Galinda slurred, beginning to swing her legs off the bed with ample difficulty, "There's a first for everything. Elphaba, I think that's the first time you don't have an answer to a question—"

There was a soft crash of glass.

Galinda shrieked, lost her balance, and fell on her bed again. Elphaba didn't even blink at the sudden disturbance. She remained as she was.

The blonde leaned over the covers and saw a shattered small vial on the wooden floor. Luckily, it seemed that the container had been empty, otherwise it would've made more mess. "And what is that?" she snapped, her annoyance refusing to be soothed. She raised an accusing eyebrow at her unnaturally rigid roommate.

Elphaba merely gave her a small shrug, her face as blank as ever. "You tell me," she simply stated, "How should I know?"

Galinda rolled her eyes, regretting it instantaneously when her head protested with a smarting throb. She got up at the other side of the bed, away from the offending china. "Forget that I even asked…" she muttered, hating how useless Elphaba was.

She raised her eyes up at the wall clock and saw that her first class had been progressing for half an hour now.

_Whatever_, she thought nonchalantly as she bent over to fix the covers, _As if I ever listened to History—_

"Wait!" Galinda suddenly exclaimed, standing straight to look at Elphaba, who looked as though she hadn't moved at all. "_You're _late too!"

"So?" Elphaba shrugged.

"_So?_" Galinda reiterated, starting to be truly startled now. She now knew that something was totally off, totally _wrong_ with Elphaba. The green girl would _never ever _dare miss a class, however boring it may be. And there was her unusual _calmness, _stiffness, and passiveness. "Are you sick or something? What's the matter with you today?" Normally, she wouldn't have cared, but what was happening was not _normal_.

Elphaba once more kept her peace, staring aimlessly at her. Galinda was finding it _disturbing _now. It was all her roommate had been doing. No emotion imprinted on her face while being stuck in a bone-chilling reticence.

"Listen," Elphaba finally said with the same stiffness, "How about I accompany you to breakfast? And then you can skip to class for all I care."

To Galinda, it sounded as though Elphaba was trying to reclaim her ignorance, but it lost its familiar sense of annoyingness. There was lesser sting, and they almost had no impact at all. If anything, it was dead monotonous.

"_You_? Accompany _me _to breakfast?" Galinda repeated, the words sounding silly in her own ears, "Well this is a really _weird _day. You're starting to be _civil _with _me_!"

She didn't want to admit it, but she'd been hoping for some company. As much as they don't get along, she might as well attempt to start in being good terms with Elphaba. She was secretly happy that her stony roommate was starting to soften up. She reasoned that it must be the explanation to the new stillness the green girl had been demonstrating.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Elphaba asked, and Galinda was relieved to _finally _see a difference in her face; she saw a small smile inch its way up the corners of her verdant lips.

Galinda fought down a smirk as she made her way to her closet. There would be less, if not none at all, people at the cafeteria at this hour unless they have convenient schedules of having afternoon classes. She would be spared from being questioned for letting the green menace escort her to breakfast.

She dug through layers and layers of hanging clothes. "That's a yes, Elphaba," she called, not sure if the girl in question had heard her through the thick apparel before her.

As she rummaged through her forest of coats, her thoughts suddenly reminded her of the small vial that had seemingly fallen from her bed. She vaguely wondered if it had anything to do with her intense headache, which, thankfully, was beginning to subside. She would have to clean it up though before she leaves, if she were to avoid further injuries.

She turned to tell her roommate about necessary cleaning, only to find out that Elphaba was _gone_.

Galinda scooted a bit from her closet, scanning the room for signs of the green girl, but it was to no avail.

She blinked, and then she frowned.

She hadn't heard her leave at all. But, then again, Galinda might've been lost in her ruminations.

_Oh well_, she thought ruefully as she finally decided to fish out a white blazer, _This is going to take a while, this "getting to know" thing… Well at least she's trying._

* * *

Just as she had expected and had hoped, the cafeteria was almost empty except for the staff and some scattered groups of older students.

Galinda scanned the room for her _finally-socializing-roommate _, but was ever so dismayed not to find her. Well she wasn't that hard to miss, with the uniqueness of her color and all.

What was she exactly expecting from a total sociopath?

Elphaba probably slinked off into her own classes. Galinda never knew her to be a food-lover anyway. She even imagined the green menace smirking at the faux expectation.

She tried to hide her disappointment as she grudgingly went over to the station to grab a tray.

She merely took an apple, a bowl of lumpy, viscous porridge, and some juice, she went over to a lone table and flopped herself off-spiritedly on her seat. As weird as it was, Galinda would've liked the idea of having a "civilized conversation" with Elphaba for the first time. She wanted to know more about her, to at least have an amiable relationship with the girl she had shunned for so long—

"Hello."

Galinda jumped on her seat. She had been drinking from her glass, and at the sudden sound of Elphaba's voice, the juice sputtered from her lips like a fountain, making her choke and gag.

She whirled on her seat and was immediately looking up at Elphaba's towering stature. A little farther behind her, a group of girls were all looking at Galinda incredulously and curiously. Galinda glowed red when she realized that she made herself look like a total fool with the juice.

She turned to dab her lips with clean linen, frowning as Elphaba slowly took a seat in front of her.

"Where have you been?" Galinda deemed to ask, trying to maintain her confident posture. She was almost certain that the gaggle of blabbering bitches were still gawking at her back. Her reputation around the campus wasn't exactly anonymous. It was quite the contrary, in fact.

"Around," was Elphaba's plain response.

They sat in an awkward silence. Awkward for Galinda, at least, since Elphaba looked completely unbothered with it.

"Thanks," Galinda blurted out, done twirling her spoon on the thick porridge, "For, um, you know… I thought you went ahead… I mean, not that I want you to miss your lessons, but thank you for sticking around…"

_Could I even sink lower?_ Galinda thought, mortified to find herself at the debt of the girl she had hated. _Had_ hated.

The green girl's eyes bored into hers.

Galinda can't help but feel that there was, once again, something _unusual_ with it. She began mentally debating whether or not it was the pristine glasses making the effect of _emptiness_ in her eyes, which were usually filled with intense heat to show her cold hatred for humanity.

She didn't know how long she'd sat there with her silent "observer". Elphaba didn't eat anything. She just folded her arms on top of the table, staring at the edges of Galinda's tray as if lost in an unknown trance. As Galinda munched on her apple, she can't help but praise her for her rigidness. It was as if she wasn't breathing nor blinking.

After a while, she heard a bell resonate within the corridors of Shiz, signaling the morning break.

"Oh Oz," Galinda groaned, watching her spoon sink onto the depths of her murky food without bothering to save it, "I've missed two classes this morning!"

She hurriedly got up from her seat and picked up her tray. Elphaba silently followed suit. Any minute now, her schoolmates will come milling into the cafeteria.

"Come on, you," Galinda said to Elphaba after depositing her leftovers, taking long strides out of the hall.

While eating, Galinda had came upon the decision of introducing Elphaba into her group of friends. She knew that the green girl must've had a sense of belongingness somewhere underneath all the pretenses of independency. Given the time, her misunderstood roommate can potentially be her best friend. Galinda just knew it. She _will _make it happen.

For some reason, her "migraine" was slowly kicking in again, but she valiantly tried to eschew it from her head.

It wasn't long till she finally met her targets: Pfanee and ShenShen.

"Where have you been?" Pfanee immediately asked, her hand on her hip, "That's _two _classes you missed today!"

ShenShen looked worriedly at Galinda, who was ever so surprised when ShenShen suddenly pressed her palm against her forehead, as one would do if checking for signs of fever. "How are you today?" the girl asked with strange tenderness. Galinda didn't even know ShenShen could be so empathetic.

Galinda stepped back a bit, her head feeling swollen. "Um… Fine, I guess," she muttered uncertainly. She glanced at Elphaba, who was standing silently behind her, before turning to her friends again, "Why? Shouldn't I be?"

Pfanee looked as though she had resisted a tempting urge to roll her eyes. "You've been out of sorts for _weeks_," she said slowly, "I'm actually glad that you're _somewhat _normal today."

"Wait," Galinda said, feeling her head grow heavier on her shoulders, "What do you mean, for weeks?"

ShenShen looked sadder than before, and Pfanee slowly shook her head, as if in disbelief. "And now you're suffering some sort of amnesia or something," she said, as serious as she'll ever be, "Do you want us to accompany you to the clinic again?"

"_Again_?" Galinda blurted out, catching several curious glances from the passing students, "What does _that _mean?"

"Yup," Pfanee said to ShenShen, nodding gravely that it made Galinda want to strangle her for the delay, "Let's bring her in."

ShenShen moved forward, but Galinda stepped away. "Whoa, whoa, _whoa_," she said hurriedly, "You two better start explaining yourselves. What _happened_?"

Galinda tried to recall the _last _memory she could remember. The vague and distant memory returning to her was nothing more than an ordinary day at school, nothing special whatsoever. The idea of being so clueless about how her life had been for _weeks_ was deathly bothersome indeed.

Pfanee and ShenShen looked at each other meaningfully. Galinda felt pressure build in her chest as the desire to burst out and inquire them what she had been mysteriously missing overwhelmed her.

"Fine. Don't tell me," Galinda grumbled, getting apologetic stares from her friends, "I'll find out myself. Come on, Elphaba. Let's ask someone who _cares_."

ShenShen's eyes grew into huge, round orbs, and Pfanee involuntarily twitched from head to foot.

"_Who_, Galinda?" Pfanee shot out, harsher than she meant to. Next to her, ShenShen began hyperventilating madly that she looked as though she was suffering from asthma.

Galinda rolled her eyes. "You two, _don't _be such drama queens," she reprimanded in a commanding tone, "Elphaba's a nice person. And I won't have you two keep ignoring her—"

"_Galinda_," Pfanee interrupted, sounding more urgently than Galinda had ever heard her before, "Have you forgotten that too?"

Galinda stomped her foot in utter frustration, the heel of her shoe almost snapping off. "Forgot _WHAT_, Pfanee?" she screeched, not caring that several students craned their heads from the cafeteria to see the commotion, "For Lurline's sake! Just spit it out already!"

Pfanee looked equally angry as well. "How can _you_- of all people- _forget_?!" she snapped back, and then she dropped her voice to low whisper, "The green bean's _dead_, Galinda!"

Galinda's heart dropped from her chest.

She must've misheard. It couldn't be. That was not possible.

"…What?" she asked weakly and blankly, her head seemingly floating.

"She's been _dead_ for over a month!" Pfanee continued, angrily throwing her hand in the air, "How can you forget something _that _important?"

"But I've… I've been talking… she…" Galinda maundered, feeling tipsy.

"Galinda, _stop_," ShenShen squeaked, clutching her purse to her chest dearly, "Stop it! You're scaring me! _There's no one there!_"

With rising horror, Galinda slowly turned. _That's not true. We talked! She was there this morning. Pfanee's lying. It couldn't be true… _Her head was hammering again, and so was her heart.

There was Elphaba, looking expectantly at Galinda with her hands behind her back. Their eyes met again. Her dark brown eyes looked emptier and _lifeless _than before. Her face was completely neutral, devoid of all possible emotions, just as she was all morning.

Galinda blinked several times—

Elphaba disappeared, as if the hadn't been standing there moments before.

"What…?"

Galinda felt everything spin in a nauseating speed. Before she knew it, she was falling face first onto the ground, losing consciousness fast.

She dimly heard Pfanee and ShenShen rush to her aid. She saw a blur of green hovering behind the two of them before her world completely faded to black.

* * *

**A/N: **So… How did it go?

I think I rushed things a bit :/


	2. Chapter 2: Help

**A/N: **Your reviews are wonderful :D Thanks you all very, very, _very _much.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Help**

For the second time of that day, Galinda regained her senses on a bed. Needless to say, she was in a clinic ward, staring up at the whitewashed ceiling. She could smell the whippets of medical alcohol in the air along with the lavender air freshener.

Her head felt as though it was bundled in dizzying knots. Her knees felt sore as well, still suffering from the heavy blow of the marble floor she had first pressed her weight against when she fell.

As if on cue, a nurse garbed in a white uniform stepped next to the bed.

"How are you feeling, Miss Galinda?" she asked gently. She strangely had an aura of a young mother around her.

"Head hurts," Galinda found herself groaning at her like a drugged patient.

The nurse had drawn a chair next to her bed and sat on it. "I just escorted your friends to the door," she said, "Miss Pfanee and Miss ShenShen had been by your side for about half an hour now. But they need to attend their classes, of course. Forgive me if I sent them away."

Galinda could only nod, dimly relishing the slight heat her head had produced from its friction with the soft pillow. She directed her eyes to the ceiling, feeling a dreadful cold crawl up at her spine when she remembered why she was brought there in the first place.

Elphaba was _dead_.

She had been dead for over a month, and according to Pfanee, Galinda had been not right for weeks.

_What happened to me? _Galinda couldn't help but wonder, deeply annoyed with herself too, _Why couldn't I remember something that important? Where have my memories gone?... And if she's really dead, why am I seeing her? Why am I even _talking _to someone who's not really there—_

_What's _wrong_ with me?!_

And then the crash of the small vial in her room hours ago hauntingly rebounded in her ears. What did it contain? Had she been drinking its contents to sleep on the night before? Did it somehow tamper with her memories and trashed her brain so badly that she began seeing dead people?

"What happened today?" the nurse asked. Her tone alone suggested that this was not the first time Galinda had been in the clinic for unusual incidences.

Was her mind broken? Had Elphaba's untimely death damaged something so severely that it affected her so much? She can't even feel anything but dread at the prospect of communicating with a supposed deceased person. There was no mourning pall, no depressing tears, no emotional breakdown.

She couldn't bring herself to tell the nurse. She didn't have to hear how ravaged her messed up brain was.

The nurse sighed consolingly. "Maybe another three days worth of rest will do you some good, Miss Galinda," she said, making the blonde contract uncomfortably at the reminder of how much she couldn't remember, "The doctor's on a medical mission in Munchkinland, but I'm very sure he would like to remind you of the necessary precautions needed to…"

Galinda chose to tune out of the talk. It was a subconscious talent she had acquired to save herself from total boredom at lectures. All these mentions of the time that had passed made her feel utterly miserable and out of place—

She felt her breath cease to an almost complete stop.

She finally averted her eyes from the ceiling, and what she saw took all the air and blood from her system.

Elphaba, green as ever, was casually leaning against the doorframe of the ward, her arms crossed, taking in the scene before her with passive indifference.

Galinda immediately snapped her eyes shut. _Not again. Not now. You're not here, you're not here, you're not here! You're dead. You're gone. You're not _supposed_ to be here…_

When she looked again, things had gone worse. Elphaba was standing _beside _the bed, staring down at her with the same empty and lost look that had bothered Galinda all morning. The blonde had always thought that her roommate's angry face was the scariest expression in the world, but Elphaba's blank stare now proved otherwise. She could practically feel a chilling aura of _death _emanating from the green girl.

"Miss Galinda, are you all right?" the nurse asked from Galinda's other side, "You're looking pale."

Galinda threw her head to the other side to face the nurse completely, determined to look as calm and composed as she could while trying to ignore the silent phantom observing her. "I'm… I'm fine, thanks…" she sputtered fervently, "May I leave now?" From her peripheral vision, she could still see Elphaba's rigid form.

"Miss Galinda, you're—"

"_Please?_" Galinda said urgently, sitting up amidst her head's protestations, "I have to… um, catch up with some schoolwork in my room. I'll be stacked with them if I won't do anything about them soon."

The nurse looked hesitant at the prospect of letting her go on her own, but she eventually gave in.

Galinda dared to look behind her. Elphaba was gone.

* * *

Galinda sped to her room as fast she could in her heels.

With all her might, she distanced herself from the clinic with increasing dread.

She'd sat by the nurse's station for a good long minute as the young nurse jotted down notes for necessary medications (none of which Galinda will bother to take, of course). All the while she sat there, she felt like she must've casted her eyes on every corner of the room in order to _avoid_ looking at the dead girl who was seemingly stalking her.

Elphaba's mute specter had been standing behind the nurse. From her daring glances, Galinda saw that she was _reading _whatever the nurse was scribbling away. The thought piqued her interests somewhat, since she never knew that ghosts would bother to read drug prescriptions. But all the same, she liked the idea of Elphaba looking at other things instead of _her_.

After that, without even lingering to hear the nurse's final instructions, Galinda simply _fled_, leaving her haunting tormentor behind.

_Why is she following me? _Galinda wondered vaguely as she barreled up the stairs of the dorms, glancing furtively behind her to see if she was being followed. Seeing none (to her immense relief), she ruminated some more, _What's up with that? Why _me_, of all the people here at Shiz! There are hundreds of girls to choose from and she picked to haunt _me_? Dead or not, that's totally unfair!_

She skidded to a halt in front of her room.

_Her_ room. Formerly, _their _room. Not anymore.

She madly fumbled with her coat pockets to look for the key, feeling the unpleasant sensation of the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She didn't dare look up no matter what. She deliberately trained her vision on the brass knob and its keyhole.

She jammed the key onto the wooden door, and rushed in once it had opened. She then threw her weight on it, slamming the thing shut with a loud snapping sound.

It was still around noon. The golden lights of midday had been giving the room a glowing look.

Galinda remained where she was, her back pressed against the door as if she was part of it. She slowly took in the appearance of her surroundings. She had expected to see a looming specter of emerald and dark blue lurking somewhere, waiting for her return.

Finding the room completely devoid of Elphaba, Galinda cautiously made her way to her bed.

Her heels clicked on the wooden floor, filling the room with its rhythmic sounds. Everything else was quiet. It was eerie in an uncertain way. In that moment, she was the only one in the dorms since classes are progressing.

The idea of being alone (_Perhaps _not entirely _alone_, Galinda thought ruefully) was highly unnerving. Her senses seemed to have been sharpened ten times than usual, particularly her hearing. She picked up every sound available in her surroundings with great detail.

She glanced at Elphaba's untouched bed. She shuddered involuntarily.

Unceremoniously tossing her bag to the corner near her, she dejectedly dropped herself on her floppy bed.

And then her heart stopped, and before she knew it, she was screaming her head off.

Elphaba was there again, standing right in front of her.

Galinda dove to her pillow, her shrieks being muffled as she stuffed the soft object to her face.

"_Leave me alone!_" she screamed, her eyes squeezed shut against the pillow, "_Just leave me alone! _Oz—What do you _want _from me?!"

"Oh _please_," she heard the ghost drone on next to her bed, "Shut _up_. I'm not deaf, you know?"

Galinda couldn't help but shiver. _The dead is talking to me—Oh my Oz! What have I done to deserve this? _"Go away!" she screamed, "You're not _real_! I'm dreaming!"

"If this is a dream, so help me, Galinda, I will _force_ you to wake up," Elphaba said, curiously sounding as though she was bored, "Honestly, who would want to dream of me?"

At that, Galinda found herself instantaneously shushed. That's the exact thing she would expect to hear from Elphaba's lips.

_Could it be?_

Galinda slowly raised her head from the pillow, mustering all the courage she ever possessed to look up at Elphaba.

The green girl looked as she was that morning. Ever so stiff, ever so neutral in terms of expressions. But for some reason, the way she had talked suggested that she sounded much more _alive _than she was before. The eyes, which were Galinda's point of focus, still retained the same lifeless gleam.

"Are you really… you know, _dead_?" Galinda asked. She mentally kicked when she realized that her inquiry sounded too forward and intrusive. It even appealed to her as childish.

Elphaba actually snorted derisively. "Does _this _look alive to you?" she said, lamely waving her arms.

Galinda bit her lip and hugged the pillow to her chest, sitting on her heels and rocking back and forth slowly. "I don't understand," she admitted, her tense muscles beginning to relax as she steadily gained a strange air of calmness, "How did it happen?"

Elphaba shrugged. "I don't know," she replied without much emotion at all.

Galinda frowned. "You don't know how you died?" she asked, making her realize how blatantly rude she was. She was curious anyway. And it seemed as though Elphaba sounded unfazed with her own demise.

"I was actually hoping that you do," Elphaba replied nonchalantly.

"Is that why you're following me?" Galinda found herself asking again, a sense of annoyance creeping in her words, "You think _I _know? I can't even remember what happened to _me_!"

Elphaba looked thoroughly unconcerned about it that it annoyed her further. But then again, Galinda reasoned that maybe her face wasn't trying to work up a look that would pass for empathy at all since the _living _Elphaba seemed to be unfamiliar with such emotions as well.

"They can't see me. You can, for some reason," Elphaba said, "As for your memory, I don't know the answer to that either. Unless, of course, it had simply gotten _worse _than before."

_Is Elphaba insinuating that I had— _have_—a weak memory?_ Galinda thought grudgingly, her fear for the specter disappearing fast. She was beginning to revert to her initial feelings for the green girl because of the subtle rudeness she was detecting.

And then their conversation earlier that day jumped to her mind:

_Why are you still here?_

_Honestly, Galinda, I don't know._

She looked up at Elphaba. "Why _are _you still here?" she reiterated. The meaning of the question had a different point of view now.

"I told you," Elphaba explained, "I don't know."

"Well…" Galinda pondered, summing up the pieces, "You're stuck here but you're not supposed to be. My memories are somewhat _broken, _and you can't remember how you died. I _might _be a little insane. Only I could see you—for now, at least—Hey, I think they're all connected."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Elphaba said, a hint of sarcasm lingering in her tone, "You think I didn't thought of that?"

"Hey, I'm _trying _to help here," Galinda grumbled, letting her chin drop on the pillow in her arms, "This may be totally absurd, but it seems we need to… urgh… work _together_ on this one."

"Oh joy," Elphaba deadpans.

"You're not being helpful at all," Galinda said, deeply annoyed.

In her anger, she abruptly threw the pillow at Elphaba. It went _through _her and landed on the bed behind her. Elphaba looked unbothered with it. The green girl didn't even blink as the aforementioned object sailed harmlessly through her nonexistent body.

"I can see how fun this all going to turn out to be," she said with some amusement, "I can imagine things flying at me every day, and they'll just pass right through. Nice, indeed."

"Oh come on!" Galinda snapped, though she would have loved the idea of pitching various stuff at Elphaba at the moment, "We both need to complete something, and since it seems that I'm the only who can help you, _you_ need to help me in return!"

Elphaba stared at her for a while before shrugging. "Might as well," she said, agreeing readily.

"It's settled, then," Galinda concluded, her headache returning, tugging at her brain, "Just… Just let me rest for a while. We'll talk more of this when I have enough energy to do so. Hand me the pillow, will you?"

Elphaba smirked openly, taking Galinda by surprise. It was the first time she ever saw her roommate make such a face. She would've loved seeing it if she were alive. As deliciously rare and uncharacteristic it was, the expression was missing the malicious glint in the eyes. Galinda had long realized that Elphaba's eyes were the measure of the reality of her existence.

"I've always known how _dreadful_ your memory is," she said with mild taunting, "Perhaps you're forgetting that I can't handle things. Perhaps you're forgetting that I'm _dead_."

"I hate you, really," Galinda grumbled as marched from her bed to the other one, "You're _insufferable_."

She grabbed the pillow and tossed it on her bed before throwing herself onto it.

She couldn't see Elphaba now as she eased herself to sleep, but she was certain that her green roommate was lingering somewhere next to her.

She couldn't see her, yes, but the heavy feeling of her presence gave Galinda all the assurance she needed to believe that Elphaba was not _completely_ gone from this world. Not yet, anyway.

* * *

**A/N: **…Debating whether or not coffee is considered a drug.

It's damn addicting, and thanks to several cups, I'm steadily becoming a night creature. WTF.

Anyway, what do you all think?


	3. Chapter 3: At The Library

**A/N: **Too much coffee to calm myself down; comes up with wild endings for this fic.

So, turns out I misspelled Pfanee's and ShenShen's names… Oh well T_T Must go through with the ones I've already used for consistency.

Thanks for all your wonderful reviews :D And so… on with the show!

* * *

**Chapter Three: At The Library**

Never in a million years did Galinda dreamed of going to the library

After a good night's rest, with Elphaba's insistence (_persistence_, _more like_, Galinda grumbled mentally), she found herself trudging out of her dorm room in ungodly hours. She didn't want to join the discordant bustling of the girls in their morning routines.

With her memories blank, she didn't know if she had done anything embarrassing or notorious, causing her insecurity to develop overnight. She didn't want to ask anyone either, not trusting the words that might come out of their lips. Thanks to her malfunctioning brain, she hadn't been able to keep track of her social status.

"Are you sure we'll find anything in there?" Galinda whined, clutching her coat around her to keep herself warm from the coldness of dawn, "I don't know if they have anything for lost memories or, in your case, ghost manuals or tutorials or whatever it is you need to, you know, _move on_."

Elphaba shrugged next to her. "We'll never know until we try," she said simply.

Galinda sighed dejectedly. "I knew you were going to say that…" she muttered.

Every once in a while, she would glance down and be ever so conscious that, despite how heavy the green girl's old boots looked, Elphaba's steps weren't making any noise at all. Not that she expected to have further proof of her existence anyway. Yesterday's events were enough.

But from time to time, from the corner of her eye, it appeared as though Elphaba wasn't there. She had to glance over to confirm her presence before settling her eyes on their destination again.

As the Shiz library loomed nearer, Galinda, not used in a stony silence, addressed to her companion, "Won't I look weird talking to you? I mean, if anyone sees me, they'll think I'm merely talking to myself."

"Then don't talk at all," Elphaba said nonchalantly, staring ahead, "As simple as that."

Galinda frowned at her. "If that's your way of telling me to shut up, it's not going to work," she said, her irritation kicking up again.

"I did not say such a thing," Elphaba answered, unfazed by the sudden change in the blonde's tone, "You came up with that all by yourself."

"Yeah, you didn't say it," Galinda retorted, "But you were _thinking_ it."

"And why would _you _think of that?" Elphaba asked, smirking slightly without looking at her.

Galinda huffed indignantly. Elphaba was _messing _with her.

"Just admit it," she snapped, refusing to back down, "You want me to shut up." She didn't even know why they were _arguing _over such a petty topic.

"And why would I want that?" the green girl asked innocently, "I appreciate you talking my ear off very much, Galinda."

Galinda didn't want to admit it, but she was _enjoying _this playful banter with her roommate. It was one of the bonding activities she never bothered to do with her before, since they were too busy hating each other.

They were bickering like silly little girls until they reached the steps of the library. The building had been open since six in the morning. The two of them were the first ones to enter it that day other than the staff.

"Can you pass through walls or something?" Galinda asked tersely, still in the heat of their _amiable _argument.

"I can if I want to," Elphaba replied, sounding a little smug since she had successfully annoyed the blonde on their way to the library.

"Oh. Good," Galinda said, before sliding herself within the door and swiftly closing it behind her, deliberately leaving Elphaba outside. She knew that the green girl will find her own way in, and she can't help but feel triumphant and satisfied. In a way, it had somewhat made her even with Elphaba's annoyance.

Sniggering, she stepped into the halls of the library.

It was not as bad as she had thought it would be. Myriads of shelves were lined meticulously in rows and columns, and the ceiling had been adorned with skylights, which was currently showing the dark blue sky gradually being tinged with the orange gleam of sunrise.

Galinda sighed at the sight of so many books. "Might as well start…" she said to herself, walking between the aisles of the towering shelves.

She barely registered the words engraved on the brass plaques. She was still sleepy, and she was still suffering from the aftershocks of her headache.

She absentmindedly turned to a corner and almost ran into Elphaba.

"Oh _OZ_!" Galinda yelped before clamping one hand over her mouth, and another hand over her hammering heart.

"Are you all right, miss?" one of the library personnel called from somewhere beyond various shelves.

"I'm fine!" she called back, glowering menacingly at Elphaba, who was smirking as she leaned against the while crossing her arms.

"Please keep quiet, miss," the personnel reminded her.

"You heard her," Elphaba said, not bothering to lower her own voice since she won't be heard anyway, "Please keep quiet."

"Oh shut up," Galinda hissed, "That was not funny! If I die out of a heart attack, you won't be getting an peace in afterlife!"

Elphaba snorted. "Whatever," she said, "Let's just get this over with."

"Why, you…" Galinda muttered, but she kept her annoyance at bay. She just rolled her eyes and trudged to another section.

For several minutes, she searched aimlessly from shelf to shelf with Elphaba silently following her.

Not being one for perseverance in terms of anything related to academics, Galinda finally rounded on Elphaba. "Where do you suggest we look?" she asked, ready to surrender.

Elphaba looked up to read where they were currently in. "We're at the agriculture section, you twit," she said, "Unless crops and seeds had anything to do memories, I suggest you go over the science section to look for books about brains or psychology."

Galinda stomped her foot in frustration. "You could've told me sooner!" she snapped in hushed tones.

"You didn't ask," Elphaba said with a straight face, but the blonde could hear the amusement she was suppressing.

"_Why _are you torturing me so?"Galinda groaned as the climbed the staircase near them, "The sooner I get my memories back, the happier my life would be."

She saw Elphaba smirk behind her. "Oh really?" the green girl said, "Then let's the most of your memory loss."

"Oh I _hate _you…" Galinda grumbled, but she was fighting down a strong urge to smile.

* * *

"Hey."

Galinda jumped from her seat, abruptly detaching the side of her face from the book's yellowing page. "What?" she groaned, stifling a yawn.

Elphaba was just where she remembered her to be: Sitting on a chair across from her.

"You fell asleep again," she replied, her arms neatly folded on the tabletop, which was crowded with piles of assorted books.

The clock on the wall behind her told Galinda that the time was around seven-thirty in the morning. The large window near their table had been shining down blinding golden lights from the morning sun.

"Well…" Galinda said, yawning widely as she stretched on her seat, raising her arms high above her to ease the tensions that had built, "You can't blame me… I've never read anything so _boring _before…"

"You mean the first paragraph of that book?" Elphaba said with amusement, "Yes. Boring indeed."

Galinda chucked a small pocketbook at her. It had uselessly sailed through her head.

Elphaba turned to watch the offending object collide with the wall, before turning to look at Galinda again.

Elphaba laughed.

Galinda sat straight, her eyes widening slowly. Elphaba, the ever so stoic and frigid Elphaba Thropp, was _laughing_.

It made Galinda see her roommate in a whole new perspective. She never thought that Elphaba was capable of feeling _anything_. The blonde figured that maybe it was her way of escape, her way of survival. She manages to get through life by simply cutting herself from society and not bothering to fit in to save herself from embarrassment and rejection.

Galinda remembered her resolution yesterday, about her plan to make Elphaba her friend, her _best_ friend. She could still see that vision. Elphaba's _ghost_ had proven it possible, even if she was only a manifestation of the remains of her roommate's consciousness.

"I _knew _you were going to make me your human target every day," Elphaba said once she had calmed herself down, smiling broadly, "Nice try, though."

"Oh well, you _made _me do it," Galinda justified, starting to feel a strange warmth envelop her heart. She was ever so eager to welcome Elphaba as a friend.

"So," Elphaba said, glancing at the piles of books surrounding them, "Are you planning to read all of this?"

Galinda felt her stomach clench at the sight of so many reading material she will be forced to ravage.

"Tell you what," Elphaba said, sitting forward, "Just borrow them from the librarian, and then read them in your room. You can probably get something to eat while you're reading. You can't eat here, you know that. Plus, there's the bed. You don't have to drool on the pages when you can pass out on the mattress—"

"Excuse me?" Galinda said, raising an eyebrow while smiling, "I don't _drool_ on my sleep, and you know it. And it's _our _room, Elphaba. We're still sharing it, you know?"

Elphaba held her gaze with her lifeless eyes.

Galinda hated the fact that the eyes always lacked all possible effects to define every emotion Elphaba was _might _be feeling.

"Let's get back to _our_ room, then," the green girl finally suggested, standing up with a smile on her face.

Galinda stood up too, returning the smile before frowning again at the sight of the books she had to carry all the way to the dorm.

"Are you sure you can't carry anything?" she asked, almost sounding like a whine.

"Would you like to throw me every single one of those things one by one to find out?" Elphaba returned the question.

Galinda shot her an annoyed glance. "You seem to like the idea of _outwitting_ me in every way possible," she said, narrowing her eyes. When Elphaba opened her lips to say something, she quickly intervenes, "_Don't _answer that."

Elphaba pressed her lips together to form a smug smirk as Galinda struggled to carry thick volumes of books in her arms.

_If I'm damn lucky_, Galinda thought, gathering what she could, _Maybe I can find something in here to make her _touch _things! And then I'll make her do all the hard work. Just you wait, Elphaba, you are _so _going to get it_.

With that inspiring thought, she made her way to the stairs, balancing a high stack of books, with a silent Elphaba following her wake.

* * *

**A/N: **Um… Not sure what this mini-chapter is about, but it's _not _in my original plot draft…

The whole thing turned into a banter between the two… FTW… I should _really _get some rest. Damn you, coffee. I am deliberately blaming you for my lack of _normal _rest.


	4. Chapter 4: Memory Lane

**A/N: **Not sure if I'm suffering an anxiety attack… or I'm simply having difficulties in breathing while my heart is pumping so fast…  
Help?  
And, yes, very sorry for this late one. Midterms and college life are pulling me away from my Gelphie feels… which sucked pretty badly.

Just had a recent inspiration to do it because my friend is back from camp :))

Yeah… this is slightly long… Who am I kidding—It _is _long.

XXX

**Chapter Four: Memory Lane**

"Really? _That's_ what you've come up with?"

"Oh come on, Elphaba, you know I can't mix a potion to save my life. Might as well poison myself if we're going to resolve to _that _solution."

Galinda was sprawled across her bed, facing the ceiling and holding a book high above her in arms' length. Elphaba was sitting on her own bed, her arms crossed as usual. Her presence barely caused a disturbance on the dreary, gray sheets.

The window showed them that night has come. On Galinda's bedside table, abandoned empty wrappers of sandwiches littered the surface along with minuscule breadcrumbs and crumpled papers, which contained several hastily scrawled notes.

"Are you sure you _can't _remember a _single _damn thing on what happened to you?" Galinda grumbled again, rolling over and propping herself on her elbows, looking expectantly at Elphaba, "It would save a _lot _of trouble."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Funny, do _you _ever remember what the hell happened to _you_?" she answered in a form of another question.

"_Please_, let's not go through this routine again," Galinda groaned, rolling her eyes. She knew that if she retorted to that statement (which she was _dying _to do), they would probably spend the night bickering to each other in an endless word fight.

"Oh fine," Elphaba said, standing up, "But will it work?"

"It's self-hypnosis," Galinda said, sitting straight on her heels, "It can help me go through my memories while being conscious. It worked for other people before... well, that's what it says in this book anyway. How bad could it be?"

"What if you got stuck in a trance forever?" Elphaba inquired, "What makes you so sure that you can control everything that's going to happen?"

"It's my head, Elphaba," Galinda said, smiling confidently as she positioned herself to sit cross-legged on her bed, "I'm sure I can do it."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Elphaba said, slowly pacing before the blonde's bed, "But I trust you on this one."

"Aww, that's _so_ sweet," Galinda said, smirking, "You're _worried _about me."

"Oh keep believing that," Elphaba said with a small smile.

Within minutes, after hastily going through the general instructions, Galinda conjured a makeshift hypnotic devise out of two pencils, strings, and a coin. The pencils served as poles, connected by a string, in which the coin was hung in between like a pendulum of a clock. The two of them silently stared at the handicraft for a while.

The blonde wasn't altogether confident with the idea herself. Elphaba was right. There was no guaranteeing that it might go as expected. But the both of them were depending on her missing memories, and that encouragement was all the push she needed.

"Well, I'm ready as I'll ever be," Galinda said, looking over at Elphaba, who was standing beside her bed, "Let's get started then."

"I'll be right here," Elphaba assured her, sounding unnaturally gentle, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know you won't," Galinda said wholeheartedly.

Their eyes clashed for split second.

Galinda cleared her throat, looking down at the mediocre contraption before her. She _failed_, yet again, to distinguish any emotion from those _empty_, brown eyes.

Taking in a deep breath, she pushed the dangling coin.

She stared at it as it lazily swung from side to side. She determinedly attempted to empty her mind. It was the first step. Total concentration…

But as the minutes progressed, she already gave the coin a push at least three times, and she was still completely conscious. No flashback or vision. No _anything_.

"You're doing it wrong," Elphaba observed.

"I'm _trying_, all right?" Galinda snapped, her frustration building up in her chest. She recognized the familiar feeling of mounting anger and she exhaled heavily. "Sorry…"

"No harm done," Elphaba replied readily, sounding as though she wasn't affected by Galinda's outburst, "Try to clear your mind."

"I told you, I'm trying!" Galinda said exasperatedly. Her head was starting to feel heavy from all the useless concentration she had been doing. Her breathe heaved in anger.

Elphaba stared at her for a while, watching her breathe out like a wounded animal before her. "You know what? Just pretend you're in class," she said gently.

Galinda glared up at her, still annoyed that she couldn't do a _simple _task such as clearing one's mind. "_How_ would _that _help in anything?!" she snapped.

To her surprise, Elphaba gently smiled down at her. Strangely, Galinda found herself calming down little by little. "You can ease yourself out of boredom, remember?" she said calmly, "You can completely shut yourself out of the lesson. Your mind wanders to something else."

Galinda felt her frown slowly transform into a bewildered expression. "That…" she maundered, "That is… That is correct…" Now that she thought of it, she _did _tune out of lectures, whether by choice or by chance. And sometimes, her brain _did _lapse into a blank state. "How did you know that?"

Elphaba only stared back at her. "I don't know," she deadpans.

Galinda tried not feel dispirited. For one fleeting moment, she thought that Elphaba's "ghost" had finally gained access to their lost pasts.

_Looks like it's up to me now_, Galinda thought as she gave the pendulum a blank stare. There's no point pushing a mountain. If neither of their memories would function _properly_, then they have to devise another way to reclaim them.

"Right. Of course you don't," the blonde muttered, more to herself than to her rigid companion.

Taking a deep breath, Galinda prodded the coin again, and it swayed in its monotonous motion.

So she stared at it, trying so hard to feel as though she was in the dreariest class in Shiz. She imagined that there was a wide board before her, full of white squiggles from the chalk. She tried to remember the sensation of the heat of the sun pouring from the high windows, the glowing light of the afternoon filling the four corners of the classroom.

At the same time, she kept her eyes glued on the swinging coin. Though it was right before her, she could barely perceive it.

Somewhere, distantly, she heard the dull and steady beating of the clock from her dorm room. It started faint and almost nonexistent, but by and by, it grew louder, echoing in her ears.

And then she felt herself lose weight. Her vision dims. Everything darkens, and along with it came a stabbing headache.

And the steady ticking of the clock stopped.

* * *

The first thing Galinda noted when she opened her eyes was that her head felt as though it was clobbered.

Second, she was back in their dorm room, lying spread-eagle on the bed. It was daytime, and according to the wall clock, it was around seven in the morning.

And third, Elphaba was nowhere to be seen.

Groaning at the inconvenience of the pain, Galinda forced herself to sit up. Everything was the way she left it… except that the shabby hypnosis device was gone.

"Oh great…" she muttered, clutching her head, digging her nails through her golden hair, "I fell asleep… So much for hypnosis…"

She unsteadily got to her wobbly feet. She made a mental note to tell Elphaba (_when she decides to show herself, for a start,_ she thought) that she might try potion making as a final resort. All she needed right now was something to drink or eat for the menacing migraine.

As she made her way to the door, the bathroom door swung open.

Galinda felt her heart stop for three whole seconds. Her eyes widened, and her breath had disappeared from her body.

The person who just came out of the bathroom was _Galinda_. The exact same figure.

She can't believe it worked! The scene she was seeing was somewhere in the past, somewhere in her memories. The Galinda who had just gone out of the bathroom made her way to the closet, humming a bright tune to herself as she dried her hair with a towel.

The Galinda who transported herself to her past stood rooted on the spot. She immediately understood that the girl in the memory could not see her.

_Great. Now I'm the ghost_, she thought, feeling excited. She could freely explore her memories like a person interacting on a play in a theater. She could watch and observe everything without being noticed.

As the past Galinda was getting ready, the other one paced about in the room, trying out her new ability in controlling her exploration.

She learned that she was _tied _to her past self. The farther she was, the more blurry everything gets, like the way a person sees the world without the help of glasses to help them read or perceive things better. It was a memory, after all. Clearly, whatever she will learn in this adventure depended entirely on her past manifestation.

So she hung about and waited for the past Galinda to get moving. She wished that she could control the speed of her memory. She didn't want to bother watching herself to try and perfect those curls in front of a vanity mirror.

Just then, the door opened, and the two Galindas turned to see who it was.

Elphaba came marching into the room, balancing an unreasonable stack of books in her thin arms. Her glasses were askew on her sharp nose that it seemed a miracle that it was still on her face. Breathing out a deep sigh of relief, the green girl tipped everything in her arms onto her own bed. She took time to catch her breath, secure her glasses, and stretch her strained arms.

The present Galinda slowly came over the green girl, feeling a strange sense of sadness.

The Elphaba she was observing now was _alive_. Lungs circulating air, veins filled with rushing blood, and a heart throbbing somewhere in her chest.

And her eyes. Her eyes were full of light, full of life…

"Good Oz, are you going to read all that?" the past Galinda asked with a reproving frown.

"And what does it matter to you?" Elphaba replied, not bothering to look at her as she went over to her own desk with a couple of thick tomes. Her manner of talking alone suggested that she didn't want to talk to her roommate at all. She retaliated by saying, "Are you going to curl your hair all day?"

The past Galinda rolled her eyes irritatedly. "You say it like it's all I'm doing everyday," she muttered indignantly.

"I think it's all you're doing everyday of your life, yes," Elphaba said nonchalantly, sitting down on her chair and flicking through pages, "Seems to me that all you do is make yourself look like a human-sized doll."

The present Galinda furrowed her brows at the remark. _Okay… I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that,_ she told herself, feeling highly offended.

The past Galinda huffed and stood up abruptly. "_What _is with you?" she snapped, putting her hands on her waist, glaring at her.

Elphaba groaned and turned on her seat. Clearly, she wasn't going to get any study time with her roommate squeaking behind her. "What are you on about this time?" she asked in an impatient tone, crossing her arms.

"We've been sharing this room for a month-!"

"A month _and a half_," Elphaba corrected.

"Exactly!" the past Galinda said, "I _swear_ I'm _trying _to get in good terms with you, but you're making it impossible!"

Elphaba snorted. "You? Become friends with _me_? Please, Galinda, don't make me laugh," she said with contempt.

"I didn't mention the word _friends_," the past Galinda said, tapping her foot in annoyance, "I only wanted to at least demonstrate a civil relationship with you—"

"_This _is civil to me," Elphaba said simply, "This is the way things should be. That's how your system works, and it will stay that way. You stick with your air-headed friends, and I'll stick to my studies. It makes life easier."

"I can't believe you," the past Galinda groaned, "You're _insufferable_, Elphaba Thropp. You and your pride."

"This is not pride," Elphaba said, "It's maintaining balance. I'll never be part of your world anyway. Let's keep everything as it is, shall we, Miss Upland?"

Without waiting for response, Elphaba turned to her desk and didn't utter another sound again.

The Galinda from the past opened her mouth, as if to say something, and then decided against it. Snatching her bag from underneath her bed, she swung it unceremoniously over her shoulder and strode hurriedly out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The whole vision swirls, and Galinda found herself feeling light as a feather once more.

And then darkness dominated the world entirely.

* * *

_What. Just. Happened?_

Galinda wasn't expecting that entire scene at all. The memory she had seen so far had nothing whatsoever to do with Elphaba's demise, nor did it provided any information regarding the life she had forgotten over the past weeks that had followed her roommate's death.

It only diminished the small feeling of friendship she had for Elphaba. There was a heavy cold feeling weighing down at her chest, and it was extremely unpleasant. Maybe they weren't meant to be friends after all…

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in the middle of a noisy and crowded cafeteria.

A rowdy group of girls carrying their trays made their way past her. Galinda tried to sidestep them even though she knew she wasn't seen. One of the girls collided with her anyway. She just past right through her like air.

"That was disturbing…" Galinda said to herself, fervently feeling herself to assert her wholeness.

Next to her was a full table. She immediately distinguished herself among the group of people, next to Fiyero. Curious and wanting to get her mind off of Elphaba, she moved closer.

Avaric was present, the noisiest one of all. Next to him was ShenShen, laughing hysterically at Avaric's latest statement (Galinda frowned disapprovingly when she saw that ShenShen's wide open mouth was full of unconsumed mash potatoes). Pfanee sat across of him. Though she was laughing, she too shot ShenShen disgusted glances. Next to her sat Milla, and next to Milla was Boq. Next to ShenShen was Galinda, and finally, Fiyero.

The present Galinda knew herself so well that she was a hundred percent sure that something was off in her past self's smile. It looked fake enough, and Galinda knew that it had something to do with her morning argument with Elphaba earlier.

Speaking of Elphaba, Galinda saw her making her way to a lonely table in a corner, carrying a tray in her arms.

Galinda saw a group of boys whispering among themselves, furtively pointing at the green girl. And then two of them stood up, casually walking towards the direction of Elphaba.

Galinda's stomach twisted uncomfortably.

Sure enough, one of the boys let out a leg, tripping the green girl. There was a crash as her bowl smashed, strewing her soup all over the floor while her apple rolled away from her. Some contents of the soup soaked her clothes as well. Elphaba remained on the floor, and one of the boys seized the chance to snatch her glasses, which also fell, from her side.

Avaric and group stood up, craning their necks to see the commotion. The past Galinda, however, remained seated with a pained look on her face.

The whole cafeteria watched. They were buzzing among themselves, and others were even laughing. Nessarose, who was seated near the door with her group of friends, rolled out of the hall.

"My, what a klutz!" One of the girls sitting near Elphaba said aloud.

"Clean up that mess, you freak!" another yelled from the other side of the hall.

The present Galinda felt her heart sink at the sight. Her roommate didn't deserve such humiliation.

Elphaba, trembling all over, swiftly gathered the shattered remains of her bowl on her tray. She then stood up and quickly made her way to the disposal area.

"Hey, green bean!" a girl yelled after her, "You forgot your fruit!"

She then threw the apple, and it had hit Elphaba squarely at the back of her head.

The hall erupted into raucous laughter. The boys stomped their feet and hammered the tables with their fists as they howled in delight, and the girls doubled over, shrieking with giggles.

Elphaba then rushed out of the hall, her face set, looking greener than usual.

"That was the best lunch ever!" Avaric jovially announced to their small group, "Great show!"

Everyone except the two Galindas were laughing.

"What's wrong, Miss Galinda?" Boq asked when he'd managed to calm himself down.

"Oh, um, nothing, nothing!" the past Galinda said, giving them all a forced smile.

"That takes care of that," Pfanee said, "Serves her right for berating on you last week when you were just trying to be nice to her!"

The present Galinda then realized that a week had passed since the previous memory sequence.

"She doesn't deserve to get humiliated on public, though," the past Galinda said in a small voice, looking down on her sandwich.

"Oh Galinda, you are just too good!" ShenShen interjected.

And then the scene swirls once again.

* * *

Galinda was back in her dark dorm room. It was night time.

Her past self had just entered through the door and was on the act of closing it.

Elphaba sat cramped on her own bed, pressing her forehead against her knees, which were drawn to her chest. The green girl didn't look up as she heard the door open and close.

The present Galinda approached the trapped girl, feeling incredibly sorry for her.

Even in the dark, she could see that Elphaba's hands were still red from all the dried blood she had drawn in her attempt to hastily clean up her smashed bowl at the cafeteria hours ago.

"Elphaba…?" the past Galinda asked hesitantly, lighting the lamp on her bedside table, shedding a faint orange gleam in their room.

The green girl didn't answer.

The two Galindas sat down on their bed, wearing the same expression of pity as they stared at their silent roommate.

"You… You didn't attend on all your classes today…" the past Galinda started, "Doctor Dillamond was looking for you, you know? … And, also, I copied notes for you…"

Galinda watched incredulously as her past self dug out a notebook from her bag, and cautiously handed it out to Elphaba. She didn't even know she could be so empathetic to the green girl to go through such lengths. She _hates _jotting down notes. She couldn't imagine what she could've written in there.

Elphaba raised her forehead an inch, and without warning, she violently swatted the notebook from Galinda's hand that it surprised the two blondes. The notebook landed with a soft thump on the wooden floor. She then returned to her sulk.

"Your hands…" said the past Galinda, seeing the crimson stain at last, "You should've cleaned them—"

"Leave me alone," Elphaba muttered in a dull tone, her thick voice muffled through her clothing.

Galinda felt her heart clench tightly in her chest; Elphaba sounded so broken.

Galinda watched her past self stand and walk to the bathroom. She later came back with a bowl of water and a towel.

Her eyes flew open when the girl sat on Elphaba's bed.

"Get away from me," Elphaba muttered when she felt the additional weight on her bed.

"Please, let me—"

"I said _get away from me_!" Elphaba shouted with intense ferocity, dropping her knees and glaring at the persistent blonde.

Her verdant face was flushed. Tear stains trailed all the way to her jaw line, and her eyes were slightly red from all the crying she had been doing. Her hair, though tied in its usual braid, was disheveled, and several raven black strands were out of place.

The past Galinda stayed where she was with the same look of pity on her features.

"Here to make fun of me too?" Elphaba spat bitterly, the tears brimming at her lids gleaming in the candlelight, "Am I not humiliated enough?"

"Why would I make fun of you?" the blonde on her bed asked gently.

She gently took one of the green girl's hands on her own. Strangely, Elphaba didn't protest. She then submerged the towel on the bowl before gently wiping all over her roommate's bloody fingers.

They remained in that steady silence for quite a while as the past Galinda cleaned both hands.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Elphaba finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I told you," the past Galinda replied simply, "I want to get _civil _with you. In fact, I want to… be your friend…"

Elphaba stared back at her. "I don't want a friend," she muttered stubbornly, staring down at the towel, which had turned crimson in color.

"I know you don't," said the other girl, "But you _need_ one."

Elphaba's eyes snapped to hers.

"This isn't a trick, is it?" the green girl asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"Oh Elphie, why do you think everyone is out to get you?"

"Elphie?"

Elphaba raised a disapproving eyebrow at her new name.

"Oh come on, you're my friend now!" said the blonde, happily bouncing on her seat, "Friends have nicknames for each other!"

"I didn't agree on this—"

"Even if you don't, that's the way I see things now," said the blonde with a tone of finality.

Elphaba sighed. "Call me _Elphie _in the hallway, and I swear…"

"Oh don't worry," said the past Galinda, "It's our indoor thing. We can continue ignoring each other to our hearts' content, but when we're in our room, we're the best of friends."

"You're really serious with this, are you?" Elphaba asked, taking time to examine her clean hands.

"Yes, Elphie, I'm serious," said the blonde, "As a heart attack."

And there was an amiable short lapse of silence. Galinda watched herself and her roommate locked eyes in a silent communication.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," said her past self, tugging on the green girl's arm, "You don't want to sleep looking like you've been to a funeral."

The image Galinda saw was Elphaba getting out of bed, before the scene once more fades to black.

* * *

"Ow… ow, ow, _ow_!"

Galinda lay gasping on her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her dorm.

Her head felt as though it was ran over by ten trains. Her vision was swimming, and her brain felt incredibly heavy and battered.

She turned her head to one side and saw Elphaba looking down on her with a blank stare.

"Welcome back," she said.

Galinda looked up at her eyes, her "point of basis".

_Yup_, she thought, seeing the familiar emptiness, _It's dead Elphie_.

She was back in her present timeline.

"How long have I been out…?" she groaned.

"Couple of hours, at least," said her companion monotonously, "So. How did it go?"

"Well it—Ow… my _head_!—Still no clue on how you died, and still no damn memory of what happened to me in these past weeks… Wait, I'm sorry, my head…"

"Get some rest," Elphaba suggested in the same emotionless voice.

"Yeah… Yeah, I should," Galinda muttered, positioning herself to her desired angle.

The memory of seeing Elphaba alive had been oddly painful. She witnessed the crucial moment of the two of them building their friendship, oblivious that they have so little time to be with each other.

There was a soft crash, and Galinda groaned. "What was that?"

"Your hypnosis device," Elphaba reported.

"Oh never mind that crap…" Galinda muttered, burying her face on her pillow, trying to numb the pain, "I'll talk to you more in the morning…"

"Until then, I'll be here," Elphaba said, sitting down beside her.

Galinda smiled a little. "Goodnight, Elphie…" she murmured, drifting off to sleep.

"What did you call me?" Elphaba asked, but the blonde was already unconscious.

Smiling slightly, Elphaba looked out of the window, watching the crowds drift lazily across the star flecked sky.

* * *

**A/N: **… So, in a failed attempt to ease my mind off the impending midterms, I came up with _this_.  
Now, with this done, time to go back to panicking.  
I should _really_ back down on the coffee intake. I'm going to get sick because of all those doses. I think I'm developing a caffeine-dependent thing… Not good…

**WARNING: **PLEASE DO **NOT** ATTEMPT TO DO SELF-HYPNOSIS, _PLEASE_. Being a Psychology student, I should tell you that self-hypnosis is **extremely **dangerous. Hypnosis, for the matter, in any form, can implant false memories. It does **NOT **retrieve past memories at all, but for the sake of this story, let's make it a so-so event.  
Please, I am not liable should any of you dare to try it, so please don't, _ever_. T_T


	5. Chapter 5: The Long Break

**A/N: **Give me an E! Give me an X! Give me an—Well, _damn _that. _Exams_.

College Life + Night Owl Tendencies + Caffeinated Drinks (or anything with sugar) = "Brain Dead"

Well it's Happy Thursday again. Early dismissal and no classes tomorrow. Peace at last… however ephemeral it may be….

Pfft... _Exams_...

* * *

**Chapter Five: The Long Break**

The first hypnotic session had consumed more energy than Galinda had anticipated. Delving deeper into her brain and cruising through her forgotten past were taking a heavy toll on her head.

She felt like her brain was going to explode, and it was driving her insane.

It had hurt so much that she woke up various times, groaning and moaning into the night, clawing at her head and unintentionally digging her nails unto her scalp. She would then immediately attempt to lull herself to sleep, however impossible the task may be, to alleviate the intense agony.

It was half past noon when she finally came around for good, and her head was throbbing dully. She sat up, disoriented and feeling slightly confused. It took her several seconds to register Elphaba's presence.

"You could've looked worse," was Elphaba's greeting. She stood by the foot of the bed, looking ever so rigid.

"Good morning to you too," Galinda muttered, brushing several strands of her hair behind her ear. "Elphie, my head hurts so badly…"

"First off," Elphaba said, walking over to her side, "My guess is that it's bound to hurt because you're trying to remember lost memories, and second, _why_ are you calling me… _Elphie_?"

"Oh," Galinda muttered, letting herself collapse on her pillow again, "That was the name I gave you. I saw it. In my memories."

Elphaba blinked. "Care to tell me how I got that absurd moniker?" She asked.

And so Galinda told her. It was the purpose of her brain-killing session after all: to uncover their pasts.

At the first memory, Elphaba didn't react. At the second, she raised an eyebrow, but she didn't say anything. And at the final one, her annoyed expression dissipated into a softer one.

"You're not lying, are you?" Elphaba asked after Galinda had concluded.

Galinda huffed. She vaguely remembered the question from the latest memory she'd seen; the one in which Elphaba had asked "this isn't a trick, is it?".

"Honestly, do you think I would lie about that?" the blonde asked indignantly, deigning to sit up.

"I think you're just concocting a wild tale to have an excuse to call me 'Elphie'," said Elphaba, crossing her arms.

"Oh come on-!"

"I'm only teasing, Galinda," Elphaba interrupted, giving her a small smile, "Remember that I agreed to trust you on this one."

"Oh," Galinda uttered, smiling up at her, "Thank Oz."

She couldn't wait to explore her past further.

She wanted to see more memories of their established friendship, a secret bond that only took place within the walls of their shared dorm room.

If ever, she wanted to strengthen her tie with the ghost, as a continuation to what they both once had when Elphaba was still living. She had already been deprived of life. She didn't have to be taken the right to feel alive as well.

"Now don't go rushing on things," Elphaba said out of the blue.

"Um… Excuse me, what?" Galinda maundered uncertainly, abruptly snapping out of her reverie.

"If you're thinking of starting another hypnotic session," Elphaba said slowly, "I suggest you shouldn't. Not yet, anyway. It's exhausting for you. You can't even get out of bed."

"You think weakly of me," Galinda said, feeling challenged.

To prove her point, she swung her legs off the bed and dared to stand despite her head's protestations. She barely straightened her legs when her knees buckled, causing her to tumble forward.

"Galinda…" Elphaba uttered, swooping down to catch her.

Galinda, however, went right through her and crashed on the wooden floor.

"Okay… _Ouch_…" the blonde groaned, choosing to stay still.

She meant "ouch" in two ways: her blatant collision with the floor, and the emotional sting Elphaba unknowingly caused.

She was touched that Elphaba's ghost attempted to aid her, but it only heightened the undeniable truth that was slapping her right in the face for days now: _Elphaba is dead_.

It wasn't right, it wasn't healthy—it wasn't _normal_—to interact with someone who was essentially gone from the world.

In addition, she felt an unpleasant chilling sensation. Her unwanted fall through Elphaba merely felt as though she was going through cold, winter air, as if that's all her roommate was made of now.

"Hey, are you all right?" Elphaba asked, sounding concerned.

"Of course I am," Galinda answered, hoisting herself up, "Maybe you're right. I'll try the hypnosis thing again when I'm better."

"Don't rush it," Elphaba asserted.

"Elphie, for Oz's sake, you sound like my mom," Galinda teased as she gingerly sat on her bed.

"Is being concerned for your welfare not an excuse?" Elphaba asked, sitting next to her.

Galinda smiled down on her hands, which she were absentmindedly twirling on her lap. "You know," she said softly, "If it weren't for the fact that you're gone, you're very much alive to me."

She meant it.

Subconsciously—as Galinda sincerely hoped—the ghost was echoing the friendship they've once had, whether she was aware of it or not. Galinda could only imagine what kind of bond they've shared, all the more increasing the temptation to try hypnosis again.

"Well how nice of you, Galinda," Elphaba said gently, "It's good to know that you don't see me as a dead girl."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Elphie" Galinda answered, meeting her lifeless, brown eyes, "Believe me, seeing you is enough to feel otherwise."

* * *

Galinda spent the last day of her three-day leave dozing soundly in her room, only coming out around the closing time of the cafeteria to get something to eat. She didn't want to join the rest of the students just yet. She still hasn't forgotten how they all tormented Elphaba.

The next day, she was dressed accordingly for classes.

"What will you be doing all day?" she asked her ghostly companion as she grabbed her bag.

Elphaba shrugged. "I don't know," she said, "Haunt a bathroom, I guess."

"Do me a favor and scare Pfanee to death," Galinda said, straightening her white skirt, "That girl didn't even check on me for the last three days to see if I'm still alive. Some friend she was…"

"I was joking," Elphaba said with no hint of humor at all, "You know you're the only one who can see me."

Galinda sighed. "A girl can dream, right?" she said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Elphaba, "Hey… Wait a minute… Haunt a bathroom? … You haven't been in the bathroom while I was in it, right?"

Elphaba gave her a noncommittal shrug. "Who knows?" she said nonchalantly.

"_Elphaba!_" Galinda said in annoyance and embarrassment, feeling her face heat up.

Elphaba gave her a malignant smirk. "Of course I wasn't, Galinda," she said, not entirely assuring at all.

Galinda crossed her arms. "Maybe I should set some house rules regarding matters like these," she muttered, still debating whether or not Elphaba was telling the truth. "In this case: _Privacy_, Elphie."

"Believe me or not, it's up to you," Elphaba said, "Besides, you have nothing I haven't seen before—"

"Can we please _stop_ this bathroom issue?" Galinda cried, blood rushing to her face. "That's it. I'm leaving, Miss Elphie, so goodbye!"

Elphaba smirked in a subtle but triumphant manner, calmly sitting down on her own bed. "Fine," she said, thoroughly amused, "See if I care."

"I would slap you _hard _in the face if only I could, Elphie," Galinda muttered, her hand on the brass knob of the door, "You're being unbelievably _tiresome_."

"Why don't you throw another book at me instead?" Elphaba suggested, still smirking, "It's a whole lot funnier."

"Oh I _will_, Elphie," Galinda shot back with her own smirk, "Just you wait until I get back."

"Bye bye then, Miss Galinda," Elphaba said, waving a languid hand at her.

Galinda grinned at her before stepping out of the room.

* * *

"Look who's back from the grave!" Avaric announced jovially, standing up and clapping his hands in mockery.

"For Oz's sake, Avaric, leave her alone," Fiyero warned, frowning up at him.

Galinda dropped herself next to Pfanee, not bothering to get herself some breakfast.

"And how are we today?" Pfanee asked, perfecting the way her breadknife sailed over her breakfast.

"Spectacular, thank you," Galinda muttered, seething at the fact that none of her "friends" visited her. The boys, of course, weren't allowed at the Crage Hall dormitories, but she couldn't see why ShenShen and Pfanee can't make it.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Fiyero asked, deeply concerned.

"Oh, um, nothing," Galinda responded, although there came a smarting sting in her temple. She felt too dejected to be hungry, and so she lied by saying, "I just had some sandwich in my… my dorm…"

She faltered, distracted. Elphaba had just casually walked next to their table, silently staring at everyone occupying it.

"Galinda, what's wrong?" Milla asked.

_There's a ghost standing right next to you_, Galinda was dying to say, but wisely decided against it. She will not be sent to the clinic again.

"Is it you-know-what?" ShenShen asked, her voice squeaky and close to panicking.

Pfanee sharply turned to her and rapped her on the head. "The nurse said we shouldn't discuss about you-know-who!" she hissed urgently, but at the intensity of her voice, Galinda heard every word clearly as day.

"I'm just sleepy. Don't worry," she answered to them. _Because you never worry, so don't bother worrying at all_, she added bitterly in her head.

"You should be building up your strength, you know?" Elphaba reprimanded, crossing her arms in a disproving manner.

Galinda silently gave her a look that plainly said, _Not now_.

Elphaba narrowed her lifeless eyes. "I won't have any of that," she chided, "You didn't even had lunch yesterday. You just snored your way through the end of the day-"

"Shut up!" Galinda snapped.

And then she bit her tongue at the realization of what she had done. Everyone in the table was looking at her with curiosity.

"Now, _really_!" Pfanee said indignantly, "You don't even like History! I can't see why have to be angry at me for bringing that up!"

Galinda realized that Pfanee was ranting about their classes again. It wasn't the first time the drama queen babbled away every single thing she hated about a particular subject.

"Oh well…um… well, I…" Galinda stuttered, clueless, shooting an irritated glance at Elphaba, "I've taken a liking to it…um…. _recently_…."

_Oh Oz, what am I even saying!_

Pfanee huffed before completely dismissing the argument, and resumed her rapid talk with Avaric, Fiyero, and ShenShen again.

Boq was totally happy with the idea of Galinda being "interested" in History that he started badgering with things that he had read about the subject.

"Maybe I'm a little hungry. Excuse me," she said, standing up to escape the Munchkin.

She passed next to Elphaba and muttered, "You are coming with me."

Safely away from the table Galinda whispered urgently to Elphaba, "Must you bug at the most _inconvenient _moment?"

"You _need _to keep your strength up, and you know it," Elphaba said in her normal tone, since nobody can hear her anyway.

"If I slipped again, they'll think I'm delirious—well,_ maybe_ I am- and they'll be dragging me to the clinic," Galinda muttered in an undertone, side-stepping a group of laughing girls, "And if that happens, I'm blaming you."

"I don't even know why you answered me," Elphaba said, unbothered as one of the girls passed clean right through her.

"You made me!" Galinda hissed heatedly, louder than she meant to, drawing the attention of a nearby group of students. Pretending not to notice, she hurriedly strode away to avoid further embarrassment.

"Galinda, I'm worried about you," Elphaba said, making the blonde stop abruptly in her tracks.

Galinda then moved to the wall and knelt down, under the pretense of fixing her shoes. Elphaba took the hint and dropped to her knees right in front of her.

"I know you are," she whispered, her voice gentler. She haven't forgotten her roommate's daring attempt to catch her the day before. She absentmindedly fumbled with her shoes, furtively glancing around to see if anyone found her prolonged fussing on her clothing suspicious. She then added to her, "And I thank you for that, Elphie, I really appreciate it. But we need to be careful. _I _need to be careful."

Elphaba held her gaze for a moment before deciding to say, "All right. Now, can you _please _get something to eat? Galinda, you're as pale as death."

Galinda winced slightly at the comparison. "That wasn't funny," she said, frowning. In her opinion, Elphaba shouldn't be making fun of anything that had to do with death, seeing as she was already dead herself.

"I wasn't making a joke or anything. I'm serious," Elphaba said, standing up when Galinda had also slowly risen to her feet.

"Fine, fine," Galinda said dismissively as she walked towards the line, "I'm getting a damn sandwich."

"Get a fruit as well," Elphaba suggested as she walked next to her, uncaring as tables and people went through her nonexistent body, "It's healthier."

"Oh, so now you're in charge of my diet too?" Galinda asked in mock annoyance, but she was inwardly thrilled at Elphaba's concern.

"Just do it," Elphaba replied with a soft smile.

* * *

Galinda had missed a lot of lessons, and was very far behind everyone else in class.

Her dysfunctional memories seemed to have wiped out the lectures she'd had, and it was frustrating for her.

As she attended Life Sciences, she can't help but nod off at everything Doctor Dillamond was saying. She can't comprehend a single word, and she felt as though she was starting hypnosis again because her mind wandered freely, away from the boring lecture.

She only came to her senses when Elphaba materialized next to her desk. The green girl seemed unbothered to remained standing.

Unfortunately, Galinda was sharing the desk with Pfanee and ShenShen, who sat in the middle. If she did so much as whisper to Elphaba, ShenShen will be running to the clinic screaming for the medical team.

Remembering how Elphaba had once read from a prescription, Galinda flicked to the back of her notebook and scribbled a short note before casually leaving it at her side for Elphaba to read. It simply said: _Boring. Hahaha._

Elphaba smirked. "Not your average note passing in class, hm?" she said out loud, "And it's not _boring_, Galinda."

Galinda was kept occupied with her silent conversation with Elphaba for the rest of the class. It completely jolted her awake. She continued to write down messages for some time before ShenShen, who was also stuck in a trance, finally noticed.

She was fully aware of Galinda and Pfanee's habits of drifting off in classes, since she too share the same "hobby", and Galinda's fervent writing now highly piqued her interests.

And so she studied the unusual pattern the blonde was making, for it seemed a better thing to observe for her than the old Goat's dreary lecture. She took note of Galinda's rushed scribbling, and then the curious action of putting the notebook aside before pulling it back to her again.

Unable to help herself anymore, ShenShen leaned it and urgently whispered, "_What _are you doing?"

Galinda was so surprised that she jumped slightly from her seat. She even dropped her pencil. "Oh…um, I…" she stuttered, "… Note-taking."

ShenShen raised an eyebrow at her. "You? Taking notes? In Life Sciences?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

Before Galinda could respond, Doctor Dillamond suddenly announced their dismissal. The blonde hurriedly packed her things, uttered a brief goodbye to the other two, before speeding out of the room without even glancing back.

"Galinda's been acting… _oddly_…" ShenShen said to Pfanee, who was taking her time to stand, still hazy from her placid trance in class.

"Can you blame her?" Pfanee said, still disoriented, without much concern as she slowly reached for her bag, "If you suffer from an incident like... like _that_, let's see how _you _can handle it. I wouldn't be surprised if she's already wrong in the head, if you know what I mean."

* * *

Three days had progressed since then.

Pfanee, Avaric, Milla, Boq, and Fiyero gathered outside a local café, watching ShenShen speed up to them.

"She's at it again!" said the breathless girl, flushed in the face, having ran all the way from the dormitory.

Everyone groaned, except for Avaric.

"What?" he asked, completely clueless to the agenda, "What am I missing?"

Pfanee frowned at him. "If you haven't been to your hiking trip for the last two days, you might've known," she snapped.

"We think Galinda's avoiding us," Fiyero explained to him, "She rarely joins us in our breaks. And what's weird is that she locks herself in her room, like, _a lot_."

"Well, Avaric, there's worse than that," Milla added gravely.

"What?" Avaric asked, looking intently at them all.

"She's been talking to herself!" ShenShen squeaked, causing several pedestrians to look at her.

"_Shut up_!" Pfanee hissed, roughly dragging the girl down to sit beside her, "Do you want all of Shiz to know we're friends with a _loony_?"

"What do you mean, talking to herself?" Avaric asked curiously, leaning further into the table, completely forgetting his coffee, which was gradually turning cold.

"The other day," Pfanee started, always the one for gossips, "Boq was in the library, and he saw Galinda sitting all by herself, _talking _to an empty space next to her."

"It was slightly alarming, you see," Boq said, absentmindedly stirring his beverage, "She had a chair drawn out beside her, and she was talking to it, as if someone was sitting there. I stuck around to see if someone was coming, or if someone _might _be there, but there was no one at all. She was all by herself."

"And we had done some researching on our own," ShenShen said, much calmer now since she was drinking tea, "Milla and I frequently go to her door when she was in her room. And I swear, she was really talking to someone!"

"This is damn interesting," Avaric said excitedly, sitting up straight, "What do you reckon is wrong with her?"

Pfanee exchanged glances with everyone in the table before saying in a dead serious tone, "That's what we're going to find out."

* * *

**A/N: … Had to rewrite everything because I typed "Glinda" instead of "Galinda". Damn it. Confusion strikes when you least needed it.**

**But come on... _Why _does she have to have a "GAH" in Glinda? **


	6. Chapter 6: Indoor Things

**A/N: **I am a frustrated college student… *bow*

… Coffee :)

* * *

**Chapter Six: Indoor Things  
**

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Elphie."

"… _Really_, really sure?"

"Elphie, I'm going to hurl a shoe at your head if you ask me one more time."

"It will go right _through _me anyway, so please, do help yourself—"

"_Elphie_!"

"All right, all right. Shutting up."

It has been seven days since Galinda had first tried hypnosis. Every single day, she would endlessly pester Elphaba to start a new session. But her green phantom would shot down her eager requests, saying that she was still too weak.

But now that a full week had passed, Galinda could see no reason why Elphaba should restrain her.

"But come on, Galinda," Elphaba said, "You know how much your head hurts with all this 'trying-to-remember-things' drama."

"Honestly, Elphie," Galinda muttered, sitting with an upright posture on her bed with her makeshift device innocently placed in front of her, "You're even more worried than I am for myself."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. She ungracefully flopped herself on her own bed. "That's it. You win," she muttered.

"Oh don't sound so glum," Galinda said, inwardly jumping at her triumph against her strict "guardian", "It's for a better cause!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes again, attempting to do a sulk, but Galinda could discern the smallest of smiles on the corners of her lips. "Wake me up when your trip is over," she said.

"You never sleep," Galinda noted.

Elphaba weakly threw her hand in the air. "Galinda, it was a _metaphor_," she droned monotonously.

"You know what, Elphie? Whatever," Galinda concluded, turning to her device, "You're stalling me, and we're wasting time. Now, just sit there like a good puppy and let me do my business."

Elphaba blinked. "Excuse me?" she said, "Like a _what_, Galinda?"

Galinda bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at the realization of her used analogy. She even vaguely imagined a cute, little green puppy rolling around the room. "Never mind that," she said, fighting down a giggle, "Now, _please_, Elphie, shut up."

Thankfully, still trying to decipher her last remark, Elphaba kept her peace as she rendered whatever Galinda had compared her to.

Before anything else happens, Galinda gave the coin a push, and tried to do whatever she had done the last time to unlock her unconscious brain.

_Boring… Lecture… Sleepy_, Galinda chanted in her head, reimagining herself at class, _The smell of the wooden desks… The sound of scratching quills… The endless droning of the teachers… The empty parchment in front of me_—

"Did you just call me a _puppy_?"

Galinda suddenly snapped from her trance. She blinked, confused and disoriented for a brief moment. And then she felt herself grow frustrated and deeply annoyed.

She rounded on her companion. "Elphaba!" she yelled, furious.

Elphaba didn't look bothered with her outburst; she was still mesmerized with their recent issue. "Did you seriously compare _me_ to a young dog?" she asked uncertainly.

Galinda didn't know whether to laugh or scream at her. Her confused emotions fused and exploded through words.

"For the love of Oz—YES!"Galinda said loudly, unable to help it, "What could possibly be wrong about that?! _Yes_, I compared _you_, Elphaba Thropp, to a small, adorable, and _terribly _cute ball of fur! _Did _that_ answer your question?_"

Elphaba watched her heave her for air for a while before calmly replying, "Yes. It did."

Galinda frowned at her before turning to push the coin again, choosing to dismiss the issue rather than elaborate it. They have to accomplish a lot of things, and arguing because of a puppy wasn't worth it.

_Seriously_, Galinda thought with some amusement, _Who does not want to be compared to a puppy?_

Quickly calming down, she resumed her trance.

But instead of being in class, the image on her head turned into a more vivid but curious one. Her thoughts formed an absurd vision of a small puppy with luscious green fur merrily skipping around the room. It was a strangely calming and mystifying. She was staring at the swinging coin, and at the same time, she could see the happy little dog in her head.

Her heartbeat echoed in her ears. She could hear it slowing down. Her breathing calmed…

And before she knew it, she was feeling the familiar sensation of being weightless…

* * *

The next time she opened her eyes, she was standing beside her own bed.

Just beyond the window, a downpour was taking place. Dull gray clouds clashed with each other in a furious whirl, occasionally being brought to life by thin forks of lightning and the crackle of thunder.

Safely within the room were the past Galinda and the living Elphaba, resting in their respective beds.

Elphaba's place was almost buried underneath stacks of parchment and thick piles of books. The green girl sat cramped in a minuscule space by the head of the bed, fervently scribbling away on a yellowing paper. She frequently looked up to either ponder over something, or to push her glasses back on her sharp nose

The past Galinda, however, lay sprawled across her own bed, blankly staring up at the ceiling. And then she suddenly sat up. "Elphie, do you know why rain comes from gray clouds and not from the white ones?" she shot out of the blue.

Elphaba paused and looked at her. "Well," she began, glancing at the storm raging outside, "The clouds undergo evaporation—"

But the past Galinda childishly hopped up and down her bed. "No, no, no, Elphie!" she whined.

She then slid off the covers and skipped to Elphaba's bed.

Elphaba saw her approaching and tried to retreat as far as she could in her small space. Galinda dropped herself beside her green roommate, knocking down a neat pile of Biology books.

"I was reading those…" Elphaba muttered.

"No, you weren't," the past Galinda said happily, "You were writing."

The present Galinda had no idea how much time had passed since they're established their friendship. But judging by Elphaba's rolling eyes, she was almost certain that they've made a lot of progress.

Elphaba knew her roommate well enough to realize that she won't leave until they've settled over the matter. "Then pray tell, Glinda," she droned, "_Why _does rain come from gray clouds?"

The two Galindas raised an eyebrow.

"_Glinda_?" the Galinda on the bed asked, "Has your brain been mashed by all the studying you've been doing? Perhaps you've forgotten, my name is _GAH_-linda. Oz, you're spending too much time on Doctor Dillamond's classes. You're starting to call me like he does!"

Elphaba smiled and set her quill and paper down to join the cluster of studying material on the bed. "You have a nickname for me," she said, "I can't see why you shouldn't have one too."

The present Galinda watching the scene suddenly felt a painful pang somewhere in the middle of her head. She staggered backwards, temporarily disoriented with the abrupt sting.

"Not again…" she muttered, clutching her head, squeezing her eyes shut in agony.

The name _Glinda _had somehow triggered something. It seemed a very crucial point of her past. It was more than a name… She could _feel _it…

Regaining her senses, she watched her past counterpart process the name in her mind.

"Oh well," she said at last, "It's an indoor thing anyway."

"And you have to make up for almost calling me _Elphie _in Arithmetic class yesterday—"

"But I didn't!" the past Galinda, now _Glinda_, protested, "I managed to stop myself!"

"Yes…" Elphaba said slowly, "I wonder how many incidents it will take before another slip up—"

"Oh come on, Elphie," Glinda whined, aggressively hugging Elphaba's arm, "I said I was sorry!"

"I was teasing, Glinda," Elphaba said, smiling down on her.

Galinda, still hazy from the pang, sat on her own bed, watching them. She can't help but smile. Like the ghost, the Elphaba in the memory liked "teasing" Glinda in a subtle manner.

"Now, what were you trying to tell me?" Elphaba said, leaning the back of her head on the wooden headboard right behind her, languidly staring upwards and listening to the rain.

"Oh, yes!" Glinda perked up, bouncing on the bed, "The reason why rain comes from gray clouds!"

"Why, then?" Elphaba asked with a soft smile, playing along.

Glinda twirled and let her head fall on Elphaba's stomach, knocking the wind from the green girl.

"Was that necessary?" Elphaba muttered, frowning down at her.

"It's more comfy life this," Glinda responded, happily looking up at her, "Now here's what my Popsicle told me. When people come out of their houses and see gray clouds, they frown up at them and say 'Those clouds are ugly'. The poor gray clouds feel sad, and they cry, thus making it rain."

GAlinda felt her jaw hang. _That. Was. Ridiculous_. She can't even believe that this embarrassing memory was existing somewhere in her brain.

Elphaba seemed to think along the same lines. She stared blankly at the blonde lying on her midriff. "You do realize that's nonsense, right?" she finally decided to say after buffering the ludicrous theory.

"Must you suck the fun from everything?" Glinda whined, sitting up again and pouting childishly at her, "I was meaning to tell you something from it!"

"Oh?" Elphaba said lazily, "I must've missed the hint."

"Fine, I'll help you," Glinda said with eager determination, "All clouds are generally the same. The gray ones are only different through means of colors. They are treated different just because they _look_ different."

Elphaba stared at her. "Where are you going with this?" she asked slowly.

Glinda gently smiled at her and took her green hand in hers. "My dear Elphie," she said, "I just wish everyone could see you the way I do."

Galinda felt her heart gave out at the emotional moment taking place right before her eyes.

Elphaba stilled for a moment.

And then she abruptly lunged forward and fiercely embraced Glinda, burying her face on those golden curls.

"Wait… what?" Glinda stuttered, profoundly confused, but she returned the hug all the same, "What are you..? Are you…? Elphie, are you _crying_?"

Indeed, the green girl was trembling in her arms.

"I'm… I'm sorry," Glinda said uncertainly, realizing that she probably offended her. Her odd complexion had always been a sensitive topic. "I didn't mean to make you cry… It wasn't meant to make you cry—"

"Thank you…" Elphaba said softly, "Thank you _so_ much, Galinda…"

Glinda smiled, and gently patted her on the back, "It's _Glinda_, Elphie," she corrected.

At the next burst of lightning across the sky, the present Galinda felt herself being weightless again, and the heartwarming image faded into empty darkness.

* * *

Galinda didn't know how much more of this she can take.

Her head was burning with all the recalling she had to do.

And her heart was being torn into two at the realization that all these precious memories of her wonderful friendship with Elphaba will only end with her untimely death.

It was painful. It was maddening. It was making her feel hopeless and miserable. She wanted to stop, to prevent herself from getting hurt more. But at the same time, she wanted to know what really happened to the two of them, how everything that had began so smoothly ended in a broken and twisted conclusion.

She almost didn't want to open her eyes at the next memory sequence, but when she heard _Glinda _say, "Are you done yet?"

She looked up. It was as if she never left the dorm room. The only difference was that it was a calm and starry night outside the window.

Glinda was sitting by her vanity mirror, passionately combing her hair. Elphaba was by her desk, buried with work.

At the sound of her voice, Elphaba turned on her seat and tiredly frowned at her. "Well I'm sorry I'm doing both _our _homework," she drawled sarcastically, "You're making me your amanuensis."

Glinda turned to face her with a curious expression in her face. "Ama… Aman—What does _that _mean?" she asked, standing up and walking across the room to join her.

"Amanuensis, Glinda," Elphaba patiently said, taking off her glasses and precariously placing it on her desk, "It means I write for you just because you're too lazy to do it on your own."

Galinda expected her past self to throw a petty fit at the insulting remark, but instead, Glinda nonchalantly shrugged.

"Oh well, you know me well enough," she said calmly, "I don't even know why you're busying yourself with a homework that's due a week from now. Get some rest, for Oz's sake. I promise I'll help tomorrow."

Elphaba smirked in a tired manner and said, "Yes, I've heard that promise before with our History research—"

"I promise this time I'll help!" Glinda insisted.

"If you say so," Elphaba said, finally standing up and heading to her bed.

Glinda inspected her messy desk. She stilled for a moment, before reaching out for something that was almost hidden underneath all that parchment. She then held it above her head to try it out against the light.

The present Galinda inched to one side to get a better view of the object. Her stomach dropped unpleasantly within her when she recognized what it was.

It was the small vial.

The sound of shattered glass echoed dimly in her mind. She still recalled cleaning its empty remains from the floor. Whatever that was in it was the key, was the answer to all their questions…

Seeing it now, the liquid within the small vessel was glimmering blood red. It was as if it were a ruby shaped into a vial. It was chilling and mystifying at the same time. But neither of the two feelings were associated with ease.

"What's this?" Glinda asked, twirling it in her hands.

The present Galinda stood motionless, her heart beating frantically with excitement and apprehension.

Elphaba turned to her and saw what she was holding. "Put that back where you got it _slowly_," she instructed, "I still need it for research at Doctor Dillamond's special class next weekend. My grade entirely depends on it."

Glinda did as she was told, and asked, "What does it do anyway? It looks like blood, and that's scary enough for me."

Elphaba returned to her desk anyway to check if it was safe to leave the crimson vial to where it was placed. "Just a little project the Doctor and I are working on," she explained, "We're trying to think of something that can help animals talk. Enhance their brains, boost their intelligence, or something."

The present Galinda furrowed her brow. _That's not right_, she thought. _The serum has to be more than that. _

"And… Is it harmful to, you know, to human beings?" Glinda asked again, "You might accidentally get some of the stuff on yourself. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

Galinda felt her heart constrict in her chest. _You'd lose your mind_, she answered miserably in her head, _I've already lost mine_.

"That's sweet, Glinda," Elphaba said, smiling slightly and looking incredibly worn out, "A problem would only occur if it was swallowed, or got into the body through other means. I don't exactly know what damage it could really do if a human tries it. For all I know, it targets the brain. My guess? Immediate death."

"Oh?" Glinda uttered, sounding very curious.

But the Galinda watching them felt weak in the knees.

Over a week ago, she woke up with no memories for the past months that had progressed; she discovered her roommate was dead, and she was the only one who could see the her ghost…

And the vial. An empty vial fell from her bed; the vial that had once contained something that has the capacity to kill. What was it doing in her bed? Did _she_—or Elphaba, for the matter—drank from it? It was highly unlikely, but if they did, _why_ would they intake something that would cause their own death?

With all the thinking she had been doing, her head was feeling clobbered again. The vision was getting hazy. A thick fog was seemingly obscuring everything. She dimly heard Elphaba say something, but she could not understand a single word. The scene grew darker and darker…

* * *

She was out of breath again.

Galinda felt herself lying on her own bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. Night had fallen, and the room was mired in pale blue light.

"What happened?" she heard Elphaba's ghost ask somewhere next to her, "What's wrong?"

Clearly, something had gone awry. The blonde was having a very difficult time drawing air into her body, and she wheezed and gasped helplessly on the bed, her nails clawing at the sheets as if she was a drowning girl desperate for something to keep her afloat the raging sea.

"The memory…" Galinda breathed, her chest rapidly rising and falling, "It… It… I don't know what happened… It suddenly _stopped_… I didn't finish it…!"

"Okay, calm down," Elphaba said, appearing to her line of vision. The green girl looked down on her with a very worried expression. "Breathe, Galinda. _Breathe_."

So Galinda focused on taking in oxygen. Her eyes were tightly sealed, the tears of pain seeping through the corners.

This was the worse pain in the head she had ever experienced. The ones that came before were nothing compared to the agony she was experiencing now.

Her name… The vial…

Her own head was seemingly trying to stop her from remembering more crucial details that had followed the memory. The more she tried, the more it had hurt. And the pain was growing intensely worse with every effort.

"Galinda? Galinda. Galinda, answer me… Galinda?"

She tried to do so much as to open her eyes to just look at her, to assure her that she'll be fine, but she was in too much pain to submit to her own commands.

Copiously drained from everything that had occurred, Galinda felt everything fade away as she fell unconscious.

* * *

**A/N: **… I'm wondering whether or not you'll all like the real reason for Elphie's death…

My dog had been in the room when I was writing this. Inspirations, inspirations…


	7. Chapter 7: Don't Let Me Go

**A/N: **Wave the banner high! I actually lived through my first term in college! (Assuming I won't die in my second T^T Seriously, who studies Botany?) Term break!

So sorry about this overly late one :(( Exams and all other college paraphernalia. I promise I'll try to make it interesting as compensation.

Plus, I'm trying to see which fic I should finish first (T^T) This, or _The Last Ten Days._ I'm uploading a chapter for both, and I guess the fic that gets criticized first wins the bragging rights to be my point of focus for days.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Don't Let Me Go**

"_Glinda, I'm leaving!"_

"_Wait, Elphie!"_

_Elphaba paused by the door, a bulky sling-bag hanging from her arm as she held in the other hand her chemistry tool kit._

_Glinda ran to her and held out the green girl's old glasses. "How can you forget this, you silly thing?" she teased._

_Elphaba smiled upon realizing that she had indeed forgotten them. She took it and placed it carefully on her sharp nose. "Thanks, Glinda," she said, giving her glasses another reassuring push, "I must've been so excited."_

_Glinda grinned amiably at her. "Do you think Doctor Dillamond will keep you there for a while?" she asked, sounding strangely childish._

"_Don't worry. I won't let him this time," Elphaba answered, smiling back at her, "When I get back, we're going to have dinner at the café. Just you and me."_

"_It's a date, then?" Glinda teased, giggling._

_Elphaba laughed. "Yup," she answered, nodding slowly with a joyful grin on her face, "I guess it is."_

"_Come back early, all right?" Glinda asked hopefully._

"_I will," Elphaba said, turning the knob of the door, "Wait for me, will you?"_

"_I will," Glinda reiterated with a warm smile._

_They waved each other goodbye, for the last time, with wide smiles on their faces, before the door closed and Glinda was left alone._

_Elphaba never came back._

* * *

The sun was streaming into the room, and the disturbance caused Galinda's eyes to flutter open.

The first thing she saw was the wall clock hanging in one side of the room. She didn't need to know the time to realize that she had missed all her morning classes, and that it was almost lunch break.

She didn't care.

Nothing seemed more important in that moment than to feel numb, to try and forget everything, to erase everything she had seen in that simple but awful nightmare…

"… Are you all right?"

At the sound of Elphaba's voice, Galinda closed her eyes again, trying in vain to stop the tears that were threatening to escape. Even in her dreams, she was being haunted by painful visions of her doomed friendship with Elphaba.

"Hey…" Elphaba said gently, "What's the matter?"

Galinda realized that a lone tear had leaked from her eye. Trying to blink more tears away, she summoned the courage to look at Elphaba.

The green girl was kneeling beside the bed, intently looking at her with a very worried expression. "What happened?" she asked softly.

Galinda's throat was jammed with suffocating emotions. She found it impossible to speak as she stared back into her dead eyes. Instead, Galinda found herself reaching out for the ghostly green hand casually placed near hers. Elphaba didn't know what was running through the blonde's mind, so she patiently stayed still and eyed the slow movement. Galinda felt more downtrodden when her hand sank right through Elphaba's. She immediately pulled her hand back.

Their eyes met.

"What?" Elphaba tried to ask again, putting her hands off the bed, not completely understanding what had happened.

"Why…?" Galinda uttered, crying openly now, steadily holding her gaze.

Elphaba seemed to be taken aback by the sudden waterworks, but she was so confused that she didn't do anything. "Um… Why what?" she asked uncertainly.

The next words seemed to strike the green girl utterly dumbstruck.

"Why did you have to die?"

Before she knew it, Galinda was sobbing hysterically as she lay there.

"Galinda, don't cry," Elphaba said gently, unsure of what to do, what to say, "Please, don't."

Galinda was too distraught to be calmed. Maybe the proper question was _how _did Elphaba die. But the mere thought of asking was only heightening her anguish.

She didn't want to know. She _never _wanted to know. She wasn't keen on discovering how she lost one of the best people she'll probably meet in her short lifetime.

"Please, Galinda, stop…" Elphaba hoaxed gently, "I'm here… Don't. Galinda, please. It _hurts _me to see you like this."

"Don't leave me," Galinda found herself saying in a trembling voice, her tear-filled eyes pleading Elphaba's lifeless ones, "Please don't leave me… Don't leave me _again_…"

Elphaba pursed her lips, and then she got up and sat next to her on the bed, looking down on Galinda's tear-stained face with a tender gaze. "I won't," Elphaba promised wholeheartedly as she could, "Now, calm down. I'm right here. I'm always here—"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

* * *

"For Oz's sake, what's happening to her?" Pfanee snapped in an irritated manner as she stood outside Galinda's room with ShenShen, "She missed all classes before lunch. We should, like, you know, run to Morrible and send her to the nearest _loony bin_."

ShenShen rolled her eyes at her before calling through the door. "Galinda? Galinda, are you up? Come on out! We have something to tell you!"

There was no response.

"Galinda, we're breaking the door if you don't open it!" Pfanee shouted, giving the wooden barrier a firm kick as an emphasis.

"What… what is it?" came Galinda's hoarse and shaky voice from the other side.

"Hey, are you all right?" ShenShen asked, her brows furrowing, "You sound odd."

"I have… I have a cold," Galinda replied.

"Can you come out?" Pfanee asked, feeling impatient with the delay.

"You might catch my cold," Galinda reasoned.

"We. Don't. Fucking. Care," Pfanee spat irritatedly, "Open the door, or Ozdamn it, Galinda, we're ramming it down!"

There was a pause, in which ShenShen turned to Pfanee with a small frown. "I think you scared her," she said.

"Oh that's it…" Pfanee muttered. She started pounding heavily at the door, "I'm not going to miss my date because of this little inconvenience. Galinda, we warned you!"

* * *

Galinda glanced at Elphaba, who gave her an encouraging nod, before pulling the door open.

"Finally!" Pfanee bursted exasperatedly, pushing Galinda aside in annoyance as she stormed into the room.

ShenShen frowned at the prompted rudeness, and decided to close the door for Galinda as she stepped in. She then took notice of the blonde's state. "Have you been crying?" she asked with evident concern.

"What? No," Galinda said, trying to smile, though her sore eyes didn't make it look entirely convincing, "Why would I be crying? I'm sick, that's all."

ShenShen stared at her for a while before deciding to drop the subject. "Let's talk, shall we?" she said as she steered a disoriented Galinda to her bed, "Here. Sit." Galinda had no choice but to comply.

"We need to talk about your… _condition_," Pfanee said, warily eyeing Elphaba's untouched bed and inching away from it.

Galinda's fingers twitched on her lap. "What does that mean?" she asked softly, suppressing the urge to sniff to clear her jammed nose.

"Galinda, you need help, and we know it," ShenShen asserted cautiously as she stood next to Pfanee, "We've been observing—"

"_Spying_, my dear, don't bother hiding it," Pfanee snapped impatiently.

Galinda didn't know what to feel about this, so she didn't say anything. But she felt her lungs grow cold at the thought of being scrutinized by her so-called friends without knowing it.

ShenShen bit her lip guiltily, but she continued as she avoided Galinda's confused gaze. "Well fine, _that_, and Galinda, we think that you're… _confused_."

"Um, I am at the moment," Galinda muttered, still stung at the betrayal, "_What _are you two on about?"

"Galinda, _please_, you know what this is about," Pfanee said, "If you want a damn straight answer, fine. We think you're crazy, and you need some medical attention. There. Does that make a mark?"

Galinda felt a chill in her chest. "You're not… You're not bringing me back to the clinic, are you?" she asked, feeling childish, but she was still shaken with her nightmare and, and now the shock of her "friends" dubbing her as insane. She glanced around helplessly, searching for support and encouragement, but to her great disappointment, Elphaba's phantom was nowhere to be found.

"We didn't want to resolve to that either," Pfanee answered, "it's not like they're helping you feel better, do they? So we took the matter in our own hands." She took out a small bottle from her bag and tossed it onto Galinda's lap.

"W-what's this?" Galinda asked uncertainly. She took hold of the glossy bottle and saw that it had small, round, violet balls of some sort.

"ShenShen went shopping the other day," Pfanee began, "We went further downtown and found assorted goods. There was this loony apothecary, and we found _that_. It can take away your condition, _stabilize _it, as he'd put it."

Galinda's heart raced faster. She looked at the enticing balls of purple. "Stabilize, you say?" she mused, "… It can take away everything? Bring me back to the way I was before? … Restore my memories?"

And in what way will she be restored? Her normal self, or _Glinda_? The memories she'd witnessed didn't add up to her known personality at all. She was entirely a different person when she was _Glinda_, without the bothersome "a". She was notably gentler, more _humane_, more considerate. But that was her when Elphaba was alive, when her roommate was by her side… Can the strange medication, by some chance, also take away the pain? The agony of losing someone who'd been so dear?

Pfanee's impatience seemed to have hindered her listening skills. She didn't properly hear Galinda's confused inquiries. "Improve your memory, no idea," she answered nonchalantly, "For all we know, it only stops your wild hallucinations of dead people—"

"_Pfanee_!" ShenShen hissed, panicking as she glanced around the room, as if expecting the green girl to suddenly appear out of the blue.

"Shut up, ShenShen, that's the problem!" Pfanee shouted, "She's seeing things she's not supposed to, and you know how scary that is!" She rounded on Galinda. "Look, you. Just take a dose when you started seeing things, and you'll be just fine. Eventually, you'll stop having those visions, and viola! You'll live like you used to. So goodbye. Nice seeing you. Have a nice life."

Before Galinda could express her views, Pfanee dragged ShenShen out of the room in haste, fervently checking her watch. The door slammed several seconds later.

Silence.

Galinda glanced around again, waiting for absolution and confirmation from her remaining source of temporary comfort. But none came. Elphaba didn't appear.

"Elphie?" she called, hoarse and parched. She needed a companion so badly in that moment.

Nothing.

Galinda sighed heavily, feeling a horrible constriction in her chest. She was left alone, betrayed, broken, and mentally and physically disoriented.

She said aloud, "What are you, really, Elphaba? Are you just something my mind made up? Or a-a-are you really there? Please, Elphie, talk to me…"

She was starting to doubt herself, and she hated it. Tears of anger and confusion broke loose from her eyes after holding them back for so long. She clutched the bottle in her hands so hard that her knuckles were whitening unpleasantly.

Maybe she was just imagining Elphaba's existence all along. Maybe the shock of her death mentally broke her. Maybe, in accordance to the friendship wiped away from her head, she was just interacting with herself, and she was merely dragging remnants of Elphaba's image with her…

_Pop!_

She'd uncorked the bottle before she even realized what she was doing. The room was filled with her heavy breathing and strangled sobbing. A round pill found its way to her palm. She took it in two fingers and pressed it against her clamped lips, contemplating whether or not it will finally save her from complete madness.

She closed her eyes. _Come on, Galinda… Just swallow the damn thing and be done with it. Everything will go away…You'll return to normal… She'll finally be released from your head… Just do it…_

She opened her watery eyes again, and felt her breath hitch in her throat.

Elphaba was kneeling before her. Same impassive emotion. Same dead and empty eyes. "Glinda. Don't," she said simply.

Despite her predicament, Galinda didn't miss the used name. "Who… Who told you that?" she asked, quivering, the pill still mere centimeters from her lips. The memory in her dream, and the sequence she recently saw were not yet being told due to her mourning, and where Elphaba had deduced that name from was highly questionable.

"Don't," Elphaba said instead, holding their gaze.

"What _are_ you?" Galinda asked, feeling her suspicion rise as Elphaba bypassed the first question.

"Glinda," Elphaba said, "Don't let me go."

Galinda unconsciously lowered her hand. She realized she never heard Elphaba wish for anything before. And regardless of the lifelessness, there was something touching and heartbreaking at what was happening right before her.

Who cares if there's the possibility that she's only imagining Elphaba? At least, what they had was _real_ for her. And that was enough.

"I won't."

* * *

Glinda, as she was privately called by Elphaba now, tried so hard to act _normal_ as the week ensues.

Surprisingly, her friends took in her façade without question. She smiled and laughed along with the others, and she strongly resisted the urge to acknowledge Elphaba, whenever the green girl would decide to appear. She didn't feel at home in their group anymore. Nothing could match Elphaba's concern, and her stiff, snarky, but loving demeanor. In their room, Glinda would talk to her to no end, until sleep would come to her. She spent less time with them, and she would conjure wild excuses to leave their company.

Glinda and Elphaba had come into a silent agreement not to continue their memory surfing. Glinda didn't need any more proof of their wonderful friendship. Nor did it matter anymore why her memories were gone, or the fact that she couldn't remember what happened to her in her forgotten days. Sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss.

This secrecy carried on for days, until Glinda slipped in her ways on afternoon.

It was Avaric who caught her.

Ever the obscene, he wanted to take a peek at the Shiz ladies cooling down on the lake. His schedule was wrong, and there were no people there, save Glinda. He wanted to scare her, but as he approached her safe haven underneath a large tree, he heard her talking. He knew that there was something wrong when the blonde kept addressing to "Elphaba".

This was immediately reported to the group.

"That lying little bitch…" Pfanee can't help but swear as they huddled around the fountain by the quad.

"I don't get it," Fiyero added, "You said she was taking those medications."

"Well, she _claims_ she's taking them," ShenShen asserted, "Plus, she acts all fine and stuff."

"Are you quite sure you heard her talking to… to _her_?" Boq asked uncertainly, huddling closer to the group.

Avaric rolled his eyes. "How may Elphabas do we know?" he shot.

"_Don't _say that abominable name," Pfanee interjected, "She's more bothersome in death than in life. I guess we're going to have to fix this. _Again_."

"How can you fix something again that wasn't really mended in the first place?" Fiyero muttered, "I guess medicines won't cut it."

"I have an idea," Avaric suddenly said, drawing all the attention to him, "ShenShen, haven't you mentioned that Galinda takes those late night walks?"

* * *

"What else could you remember?" Elphaba asked.

"Should I even try?" Glinda answered with a smile.

Night had fallen at Shiz. There was something beautifully peaceful in walking in the dark and admiring the golden glows of the night lights.

"How about we play that game again?" Elphaba encouraged.

Glinda rolled her eyes. "You know I suck at your 'quiet game'," she answered.

"Proves that you can't simply keep your mouth shut," Elphaba joked.

"Proves that your ultimate goal is to annoy me," Glinda parried with a grin, "I've been working on that theory for a while now."

"Bless you, you dear thing," Elphaba remarked with a smirk, "You're starting to think."

"I have the mind to hit you, if only I could," said Glinda.

"Oh hey, would you look at that. _You _have a _mind_?" Elphaba retorted.

Glinda's laugh resonated for quite a while in their silent walk. Her "double-life" was almost bearable due to her nightly joys with Elphaba. If this was going to be her life from now on, she couldn't see anything bad about it—

A strong hand suddenly shot from the behind and clamped itself on Glinda's face. It took Glinda several seconds to realize that the hand had a handkerchief, and the handkerchief was filled with a dizzying scent. Her vision blurred, and before she knew it, she fainted.

* * *

"You know I don't approve of this, do you?" Fiyero said angrily as Boq and Avaric hauled Galinda's unconscious body into the carriage.

"What choice do we have?" Avaric snapped, "Do you think she'll go with us on her own accord?"

Fiyero bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything else.

"You worry too much," Pfanee said, "After tonight, I think we'll finally get our Galinda back. For good."

And with that, the carriage rolled on into the city in the darkness of the night.

* * *

**I'm really sorry about this late one. T^T **


End file.
